CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Two football players – one from Independence High School and one from West Charlotte High School – will not be allowed to participate in Friday night’s game.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools officials announced early Friday that school investigators went over the records for each student on the winter sports and fall playoff teams to verify their addresses. They investigated 12 athletes system-wide and discovered the two football players were ineligible based on where they actually reside.

Because the schools did not know about the ineligibility, the semi-final championship game will continue as scheduled at Memorial Stadium at 7:30 p.m. Independence is the defending state champion.

The district reported the violations to the North Carolina High School Athletic Association Thursday night. The NCHSAA said the violations will not jeopardize the teams' records or playoff status.

After the investigations, a swimmer at Providence High School and a basketball player at South Mecklenburg High School were also ruled ineligible. The swimmer is ineligible also due to residency, but the basketball player is ineligible because he did not meet attendance requirements.

South Mecklenburg will have to forfeit its Nov. 15 game against Waddell and the Providence swimmer will have to forfeit any points earned.

None of the students’ names were released.

CMS decided to review the athletes’ records after another football player at Independence was found to be ineligible before an earlier playoff game and South Mecklenburg High School was forced to forfeit all of their football season after one of their players was deemed ineligible and it was discovered the school knew about it, yet allowed him to play.

CMS also announced Friday that the West Charlotte varsity boys’ basketball team will be penalized by the NCHSAA for holding practice on a Sunday, violating state rules. The team will be fined.

School officials said the district is in accordance with the NCHSAA rules and require proof of residency, such as a utility bill, lease agreement or paycheck stub, when a student moves into the district. They said before athletic teams begin practices, athletic directors must review each student’s records to make sure they meet eligibility rules and then principals sign off on the team rosters – making principals ultimately responsible for determining student-athlete eligibility.

According to the NCHSAA, if school officials make an eligibility error, the penalty is applied to the whole team. If parents or legal guardians do not update information, lie about their residency or falsify documents, the school and team are not held responsible.

“It's an integrity issue, when parents or guardians or students don't tell us the truth,” said CMS Superintendent Peter Gorman.

CMS officials said they are reviewing their system for verifying the eligibility of about 16,000 students to see where improvements can be made.

"We need to do this right," said Chief Operating Officer Maurice Green, who initiated the review two weeks ago. "It's more important to be thorough than to rush a solution out there that may not get the job done."

Gorman promised to have a plan by the end of the year.