The Oxfordshire Football Association have denied claims that there is a backlog of outstanding disciplinary matters but admit that there was a problem over the Christmas period, writes Mark Edwards.

John Abrams, the OFA referees secretary who took on the role of disciplinary secretary when Mike Addison quit in November, says that there was an initial backlog when he took over, but that has now been cleared.

"When Mike (Addison) resigned, we did fall behind in the change-over period, but at the most, that would have been 200 matters outstanding," Abrams said.

"We took care of the serious cases as soon as we could, but we did leave some of the minor ones for a short period."

But Keith Miles, manager of Morrells Oxford Sunday League side Roebuck, says that despite what the OFA say, there is still a problem.

"I'm absolutely livid because I thought that one of our players had clocked up five bookings, so I phoned the OFA and they told me that by their records he was fine to play," Miles said.

"However, when the details came through about his bookings, he had already played two games when he should have been suspended and now the club is in more trouble."

Abrams admits there could have been one or two cases where this sort of incident happened, but says that everything is in order now.

"It's not impossible that this sort of thing may have happened over the Christmas period, but you tell me a company or organisation that doesn't get behind over that period?"

One of the main problems has been that there has been no phone number where the OFA can be contacted at their temporary office in Witney.

"We weren't going to get a phone put into a place where we were only going to be in for two weeks," Abrams continued.

"Unfortunately, we have now been there for two months, but are moving next week and will hopefully have a phone installed on Monday or Tuesday."