During the course of the 2023 NPL Queensland Men’s season, an issue has arisen in relation to a disciplinary matter and player eligibility, which has resulted in the provision of inadvertent advice and a subsequent determination from Football Queensland.

Due to the provision of this eligibility advice from Football Queensland, it has become apparent that to apply a sanction under the Competition Regulations by Football Queensland would result in an inequitable outcome for both clubs involved (Brisbane City FC and Peninsula Power FC).

Legal avenues and other formal processes outlined within Football Queensland’s regulations and by-laws were initiated by both clubs however, after seeking an extensive series of legal opinions and advice taken by Football Queensland, we have concluded the fairest, least intrusive and most practical outcome permissible within the regulations (4.6a) and to resolve the circumstance, is to make an alteration to the NPL Finals Series and extend the number of qualifying clubs from 4 teams to 6 teams for 2023.

The format of the finals series for 2023 will now take place in the following manner:

• Teams that finish 1st and 2nd on the ladder at the conclusion of the regular season will rest for week 1 of the finals (1st to 3rd September) as per the original format.
• Teams that finish 3rd and 6th on the ladder at the conclusion of the regular reason will now play a Semi Final fixture (S1) on week 1 of the finals (1st to 3rd September) with 3^rd place to host.
• Teams that finish 4th and 5th on the ladder at the conclusion of the regular reason will play a Semi Final fixture (S2) on week 1 of the finals (1st to 3rd September) with 4^th place to host.
• The team that finished 1st on the ladder will play the lowest ranked winner from S1/S2 in a Preliminary Final (P1) on week 2 of the finals (8th to 10th September).
• The team that finished 2nd on the ladder will play the highest ranked winner from S1/S2 Preliminary Final (P2) on week 2 of the finals (8th to 10th September).
• The winning teams from P1 and P2 will play each other in the Grand Final on the 17th September as per the original format.

For clarity, the U23 Men’s Finals Series will remain as a top 4 finals competition on the original timeline (1v4/2v3).

The Disciplinary Regulations relating to yellow card accumulation in a Finals Series remain as stipulated.