Officials from St Patrick's Athletic were yesterday considering their options after an appeals board of the FAI effectively ruled that the National League authorities dock the club nine points for playing Paul Marney in three games while he was unregistered.

Prior to the decision St Patrick's led the premier division, but the deduction dropped them to eighth place in the league before last night's matches.

Representatives of the club and of the league said they were seeking clarification of the ruling, though, with officials at Richmond Park insisting that they felt that there was some doubt over the number of points to be deducted, while those in Merrion Square admitted that the size of the fine was open to question.

The FAI-appointed appeals committee, which consisted of Gerry McAneaney of the Armed Forces Association, Maurice Fleming of the Schoolboys and Terry McAuley of the Universities, ruled simply that the league must apply Rule 16 a (vi) of its rule book, which states that a club will lose three points for each game in which it plays an unregistered player and be fined up to £1,000 for each player involved.

The League had originally chosen to impose only the fine, but this was appealed by Shelbourne.

St Patrick's officials said that they were seeking clarification on the ruling from FAI general secretary Brendan Menton. Asked about this, however, Menton said that while he was not the one to decide the matter, "the implications of the decision seem quite clear to me, the club loses nine points".

League commissioner Roy Dooney agreed with that interpretation and said that he fully accepted the panel's authority to overturn a decision he had originally been involved in making. But he added that the level of the fine was now uncertain as the appeals committee had simply decreed that the rule be implemented while the rule itself recommended only that a figure of up to £1,000 be imposed.

Whatever the final figure, St Patrick's will not, it seems, allow the matter to rest there. They have the option under FIFA and FAI rules of seeking independent arbitration, and have one calendar month to lodge an application with Merrion Square, after which the hearing would have to be held within 21 days. If this fails they could go to the courts. In the meantime, St Patrick's would be without the nine points.

The Republic of Ireland under-17 side takes on The Netherlands in a friendly at Richmond Park today (4.30).