NEWS: The European Rugby Cup Ltd (ERC) yesterday turned down an appeal by the Leinster Branch to have Felipe Contepomi deemed eligible to compete in the pool stages of Heineken European Cup, which begins at the weekend.

Leinster failed to correctly register the Argentinian outhalf by the due date, November 13th, an administrative error that they brought to the attention of the tournament's governing body at an ERC board meeting last Friday.

Despite the fact that the necessary paperwork, release documents from both Bristol and the English Rugby Union (RFU), was subsequently filed, they had not been submitted in time. ERC therefore ruled at the board meeting that Contepomi would be ineligible to play in the pool stages (six matches) of the 2003-2004 European Cup.

Leinster examined the ramifications and sought a means whereby they could persuade ERC to overturn their original decision. To that end a letter was drafted by the Leinster Branch and submitted to ERC on the grounds that the tournament organisers had not pursued their own disciplinary guidelines that should have followed Leinster's transgression of the rules.

The Leinster Branch contended that a disciplinary officer should have dealt with the breach and that the punishment merited a fine rather than deeming the player in question to be ineligible. They appeared to suggest that the ERC board meeting was not the appropriate forum for ruling on the Contepomi case.

ERC considered the matter but yesterday afternoon communicated to the Leinster Branch that they were turning down their entreaties. There had been a suggestion that the Leinster Branch would consider taking the matter to the High Court but as of now that is not an option they intend to pursue.

The Leinster management committee met yesterday afternoon following the ERC decision and Mick Dawson, chief executive of the Leinster Branch and one of five members on the aforementioned committee issued the following statement.

"The position as of now vis-à-vis Contepomi is that ERC has confirmed its decision on his eligibility to us this afternoon. Leinster are making ongoing representations."

It is anticipated the Leinster Branch will resume negotiations with ERC this morning in a bid to change the ruling, although quite what options remain open in the light of the ERC's most recent decision are not immediately apparent. The Irish province are also up against a tight deadline as under the rules governing the tournament, the official team for a match must be submitted 48 hours prior to kick-off. Given that Leinster face Biarritz on Saturday afternoon at Lansdowne Road (3.0) they have until 3 p.m. tomorrow afternoon to confirm their match 22.

Unless the Leinster Branch can quickly formulate a compelling argument for overturning ERC's stance on the Contepomi affair, it seems likely that the Argentinian will only be able to offer moral rather than tangible support to his new colleagues.

The matter should be resolved, one way or another by lunch-time tomorrow.