CWMBRAN Celtic’s battle to be able to play competitive league football will be resolved on Tuesday, writes Michael Pearlman.

The club who finished fourth from bottom of Welsh League, Division One, last term, are yet to play a minute of league action this season after a row with the Football Association of Wales.

In scenes similar to the previous year with Barry, a row over procedure and policy at the FAW and Welsh League has led to chaos in terms of scheduling with the clubs relegated, despite not finishing in the relegation zone after Afon Lido were demoted from the top flight with no clubs meeting the criteria to play in the WPL.

As detailed last week in Argus Sport, the battle with the footballing authorities has stretched six months and has seen both Cwmbran and Ammanford Town fall well in arrears in terms of games, irrespective of which divisions they end up in, Celtic now eight games behind their rivals.

The two clubs are arguing simply that the FAW have failed to comply with their own regulations and have been left angered by what they say is a lack of common courtesy from the power brokers of Welsh football, but the matter won’t drag on for too much longer.

Though details of the hearing are confidential, the Argus can reveal that Cwmbran Celtic and representatives from the Welsh League will meet at FAW headquarters in Cardiff where an independent arbitration tribunal will be conducted by a prominent sports’ barrister.

That means that win or lose, Cwmbran can finally begin their campaign, having vowed to accept fully any decision.

Celtic will enter the meeting in good heart with team spirit seemingly not affected by a lack of action, as they were 2-1 victors in the first round of the Welsh Cup last weekend after beating Division Three outfit Llanelli Town.

“The players have been absolutely fantastic, the club won’t be bowed despite what we feel is a very unfair situation,” Celtic’s John Stockwell explained.

The Football Association of Wales have made clear they aren’t prepared to comment on the situation, the disagreement garnering increased media attention since the Argus’ story last week.