The NCAA has placed Eastern Washington University on three years’ probation for allowing more than a dozen football players over a four-year period to practice even though they did not meet eligibility requirements, the association’s Division I Committee on Infractions said in a report released today.

Beginning in 2003-4, the university allowed 13 football players to practice even though they were not certified by the NCAA, the report said. In addition, the university exceeded the NCAA’s limit on the number of coaches by having 13 to 15 individuals performing coaching duties during those years. NCAA rules prohibit football programs from having more than 11 coaches.

The committee said the rules violations were the result of “inattention” by a former head coach and were exacerbated by staff turnover and inadequate resources devoted to compliance.

In addition to probation, the university imposed several of its own penalties, including a reduction of two scholarships for three academic years and a cut in the football program’s coaching staff, to 10 from 11.

In a statement released this afternoon, Eastern Washington’s president, John Mason, accepted the NCAA’s findings, noting that the university had reported the violations to the NCAA in 2007. He said the university had put in place new monitoring systems intended to “embrace a culture of compliance.”

“We have taken significant compliance measures,” Mr. Mason said, “to ensure we do not find ourselves in this situation again.” —Libby Sander