Severn Stars deducted three points for breach of regulations

Severn Stars have been deducted three points for having more than one overseas player on the court during their Round 5 fixture against Manchester Thunder in the Vitality Netball Superleague.

Although Stars had not set out to intentionally break any regulations, it was felt important to uphold the integrity of the rules, therefore the disciplinary committee issued the lightest of the options available.

A spokesperson for Severn Stars said: "We were disappointed to learn we have been deducted three points due to an error which occurred during a recent match against Manchester Thunder. Unfortunately, we positioned two overseas players in the same third of the court at the same time for a short period, in breach of Vitality Netball Superleague rules.

"We accept that an error was made and accept the decision of England Netball to deduct three points from the team. Now we are looking to concentrate on the rest of the season going forward."

The three point deduction means Stars have dropped from sixth to eighth position on nine points.

The regulation that has been breached reads as follows:

1.1.3. Each Team is permitted to register a maximum of two (2) Foreign Players as Registered Players at any one time during the Playing Season. Foreign Players are not permitted as Training Partners.

1.1.3.1. A Team may not have more than one (1) Foreign Player within the attacking (GS or GA), midcourt (WA, C, WD) or defensive (GD or GK) positions. (Teams will need to define a Foreign Players positional coverage as part of their registration)

Watch more Vitality Netball Superleague as Loughborough Lightning host Surrey Storm live on Sky Sports Mix on Monday, April 8 and the match will be streamed live on the Sky Sports YouTube channel. Also, Sky Sports will be showing every game of the 2019 Vitality Netball World Cup in July.