Gil Vicente agrees to play in Portuguese second division

Gil Vicente's Gregory in action in March 2006. The club has agreed to turn up for their second division match against Rio Ave on Sunday.

Gil Vicente, the club at the centre of a relegation dispute that almost led FIFA to ban Portugal from international competition earlier this month, has agreed to turn up for their second division match against Rio Ave on Sunday.

The club failed to show for their first three scheduled second division matches in protest against the Portuguese Football Federation's decision to relegate them from the first division last season for using an ineligible player, Angola midfielder Mateus Galeano da Costa.

If Gil Vicente skipped four consecutive matches it would face being kicked out of Portuguese competitions for several years.

While the club agreed to play in the second division on Sunday, it said in a statement on its internet site that it would seek to have the three matches which it missed against Feirense, Estoril and Trofense to be rescheduled.

The Portuguese league has deducted points from Gil Vicente for failing to turn up to the matches and the club now lies at the bottom of the second division.

Gil Vicente, which finished fifth in the Portuguese premier league in the 1999/2000 season, was replaced in the first divion by Belenenses, who had been relegated last season.

The club contested the suspension of its Angolan player, and then its relegation, in civil courts, contravening FIFA and league rules. Its failure to turn up for matches also disrupted the start of the domestic league schedule.