Riteriai have been removed from Lithuania’s Toplyga after the Lithuanian Football Federation (LFF) withdrew the club’s top-flight licence and struck their results from the 2026 season.
The LFF Disciplinary Committee met in an extraordinary session on 14th of June to consider alleged breaches of club licensing rules, the 2026 Toplyga competition regulations and the federation’s disciplinary code. The federation said the club had been given a deadline of 15th of June to resolve outstanding licensing issues but failed to do so.
The LFF also pointed to the absence of a reserve side in the national league pyramid. Riteriai B were previously removed from the LFF II Lyga A Division, and the federation said Toplyga regulations require participating clubs to field a reserve team in either the LFF Pirma lyga or LFF II Lyga.
In response, the Disciplinary Committee annulled the A tier licence issued to VšĮ Futbolo Klubas Riteriai, removing the club’s eligibility to compete in the 2026 Toplyga championship.
Later on 14th of June, the LFF Executive Committee met in an extraordinary session to review the list of clubs entitled to take part in the Toplyga. Following the Disciplinary Committee decision, the Executive Committee voted to remove Riteriai and their team from the approved list.
The federation added that, because the team had not played at least half of their scheduled matches, as per the league rules, all of Riteriai’s results in the championship will be annulled.
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Source: https://www.lff.lt/priimtas-sprendimas-del-fk-riteriai-tolimesnio-dalyvavimo-toplygos-pirmenybese/
