MANSFIELD - It's finally official.

On Thursday, the MIAA Board of Directors voted to approve the agreement with Mansfield High School in regards to the punishment of Coach Mike Redding, who will be suspended for the first four games of the 2009 season.

Mansfield will also repay the Association $9,700 in legal fees as part of the agreement.

The Board of Directors originally recommended a five-game suspension for Redding as punishment for the use of an ineligible player in two games last season and then, in the Board's view, taking too long to self-report the incident.

According to the Board, Redding delayed the reporting of an ineligible student-athlete on the Hornets' football roster for "five critical days" after he and his staff supposedly learned of the infraction on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. The delay, the MIAA contended, made it impossible for the association to convene an appeal hearing prior to the start of the Division 2 playoffs. Mansfield self-reported the infraction to the MIAA last Dec. 1, and in a same-day ruling, was barred from participating in the Division 2 playoffs that were to begin on Dec. 2 with a game against Bishop Feehan High School. Mansfield then sought and received an injunction in Taunton Superior Court to permit the team to compete because the association refused to grant an appeals hearing after the school reported the violation.

Mansfield defeated Bishop Feehan before falling to Walpole in the Division 2 Super Bowl.

Mansfield had planned on appealing the recommendation to the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Council but the deal was struck just hours before Mansfield representatives were to appear before the MIAC.