The Otago Rugby Football Union has rejected Alhambra-Union's bid to play prop Dane Maraki in today's championship final at Carisbrook.
Maraki, who has played for the Alhambra-Union club for five years, was named in the reserves but will have to watch from the stands.
He played six games for the club at the start of the season but then returned to his home in Northland for personal reasons for a month.
He returned to Dunedin early this month and wanted to transfer back to the club.
But the Metropolitan Committee declined his transfer back to Alhambra-Union. The transfer regulation states that "player transfers, including provincial transfers, shall not be granted within two weeks of a semifinal in any competition".
The Rugby Council upheld this ruling when it met yesterday and declined Alhambra-Union's union's request to play Maraki in today's final against University A.
Alhambra-Union chairman Gary Wheeler said his club was disappointed by the decision.
"Dane has played over 60 games for the club in the last five years and we are disappointed that he is not allowed to play in the final," he said.
Alhambra-Union was one of the clubs that agreed to play the club final early this year so every club would be able to play its best players in the final.
"We agreed with that but Dane has been stopped," Wheeler said.
Otago University club chairman Kelvin Fisher said his club would not have "stood in Maraki's way and would not have protested if he had been given a clearance by the Rugby Council."
The regulations state that Alhambra-Union will forfeit the game if it plays Maraki in the final.
