DETROIT -- Detroit Public Schools emergency financial manager Robert Bobb said Thursday that the Southwestern High School football team will be stripped off its 2008 Division B title because five players were academically ineligible.

Bobb said Dickinson Wright, PLLC and a team led by former Mayor Dennis Archer completed an investigation after allegations surfaced about the team.

The game in question was played on Oct. 24, 2008, when Southwestern played Osborn High School.

Subsequently, a review of the opposing team revealed that it too had four ineligible players.

The district said it deemed it was appropriate to nullify the 2008 season championship award for Division B.

Because of the players’ ineligibility, the district said it would also throw out the following game against Dearborn Heights Annapolis - - which was a Michigan High School Athletic Association tournament game.

Despite being eligible under MHSAA requirements, the district said the players did not meet DPS requirements, which are outlined in the DPS Interscholastic Manual.

DPS requires student athletes to have a “C” grade point average, or 2.0, for the semester before participation.

The district said auditors used computer records, grade point averages, official transcripts, and interviews to determine players’ eligibility.

Bobb said review was not solely based on Southwestern, but was a total overhaul of the athletic program.

“There is no excuse for the complete lack of an established process to ensure player eligibility,” Bobb said. “The fault lies neither with the players nor the school personnel, but with a district that lacked any proper procedures to examine eligibility. Still, we must ensure integrity within our sports program, and therefore are obligated to make the decision to nullify the 2008 DPS football Division B championships.”

Bobb said there is no procedure currently in place for examining player eligibility.

"There will be sanctions, and they will be put in place by my office, strictly enforced. Including terminations," Bobb said.

Bobb said a new policy would be put in place to examine the issue.

Auditors also reviewed cash receipts from athletic events at various high schools in order to keep in check management practices.

Auditors observed the processes during and after football games between Aug. 27 to Sept. 11, 2009, and found $28,000 collected from gate receipts and concession sales, for an average of $2,333 per game.

“Our auditors found a serious lack of controls at several games, where the amount of money collected was not immediately reconciled with ticket sales and where money was not deposited in a bank in a timely manner, nor in the appropriate athletic fund,” said Odell Bailey, DPS Auditor General. “The amount collected at these games is not insignificant, and we need to make sure the money is going where it should go -- back into athletic programs.”

Auditors also found no public restrooms at some events, a lack of security near where money was collected, no attempt to ensure large bills were not counterfeit, and cases where just one person managed ticket distribution and cash collection.

Read: Audit Of Athletic Receipts.