Non-compliance cases rig local football |05 November 2012

In its report of findings dated November 2, 2012, the arbitration tribunal writes that the SFF has breached its own rules and regulations and that it did not comply with decisions it had itself taken on the recommendation of its legal committee. This report has sent shock waves across the local football community and all concerned have been asking why the SFF didn’t react earlier and will La Passe and Anse Reunion accept the decisions.

Among the recommendations made by the arbitration tribunal are that the SFF should not be involved in any transaction between clubs/teams; players should not be allowed on the field of play if their documents are not in order and that it is the SFF’s and clubs’ responsibilities to ensure such regulations are respected; the foreign players policy and regulations (Reg 4) must be respected and complied with and that clubs/teams and federations must comply with the procedures as laid down by the respective agencies.

All these recommendations come as a result of an investigation run by the arbitration tribunal after Northern Dynamo manager Clive Delorié decided to go to arbitration on August 6, 2012 after the general secretariat and the SFF executive committee did not comply with its own ruling.

The legal committee came up with a series of recommendations following an investigation it carried out into the illegal transfer and registration of foreign players by La Passe, Anse Reunion (in the Barclays league division one) and LightStars (in the Airtel Cup). As a result a letter dated June 22, 2012 and signed by SFF chairman Joel DeCommarmond was addressed to all first division teams.

The SFF wrote that in accordance with regulation 2B (v) all teams which have fielded an illegal player shall automatically cause the forfeiture of every match played and the opposing team shall be awarded three points and two goals.

The letter added that instead of imposing a fine, as per recommendation (by the legal committee) and in accordance with regulation 16A, the executive committee opted to issue a final warning to all teams. However, should such incident repeat itself in the future both regulations 2B (v) and 16A shall be applied.

SFF guilty of six cases of non-compliance

Although the culprits were known no points were deducted from their tally and according to Mr Delorié, during the SFF’s extra-ordinary meeting held on August 4 the SFF executive committee refused to answer questions on why the secretariat had not taken any action against clubs who had breached the following regulations:

- Reg. 3C (i) (ii) Registration of foreign players outside the registration period,
- Reg. 4Q (i) Using more than four foreign players within a football season,
- Reg. 3E Fielding unregistered foreign players
- Reg. 3D (iii) using registered players whose GOP and registration do not coincide;
- Reg. 3H (i) Transfer or unregistered player locally.

In its findings, the arbitration tribunal has found the SFF executive committee guilty of six cases of non-compliance. Among those are the SFF failed to comply with the resolution written in the letter dated June 22, 2012 and signed by chairman DeCommarmond; it failed to deduct points from La Passe and Anse Reunion in the Barclays league division one; it did not set up an arbitration tribunal within seven days according to regulation 12 after receiving the original dossier in June; and it registered players outside the registration period.

The SFF has two transfer windows – from the end of the last season till the start of the new one and from June 15 to July 15 of every year. The first transfer window for this present season started on November 17, 2011 when the 2011 season ended and it closed on March 10 when the 2012 season started.

La Passe, Anse Reunion and LightStars all registered players after the March 10, 2012 deadline.

And the arbitration tribunal insisted that registration includes all documents – GOP (gainful occupational permit), ITC (international transfer certificate) and licence – being in place. As per Reg 3.C (i) a player may only be registered during one of the two registration periods fixed by the SFF.

In the cases in question, players received their ITCs on March 23, 2012 and May 4, 2012, and got their GOPs on March 29, 2012 and May 18, 2012. All these happened outside the registration period.

The arbitration tribunal concluded that the rules and regulations of the SFF had been breached and that there were various instances of non-compliance on the part of the SFF secretariat and executive committee.

Players at fault

Sports Nation learned that the players involved are Malagasy Eric ‘Didi’ Rajaobery who played for La Passe without being registered and La Passe for having more than four foreign players, Malagasy player Fanampin Fagnorena for playing for La Passe after receiving his ITC outside of the registration period, Malagasy player/coach Jocelyn who played for Anse Reunion for the whole of the first round without a GOP, and Malagasy Hassan Ali who played for Anse Reunion after receiving his ITC outside of the registration period.

All these are serious breach of regulations which the SFF has to face and Mr Delorié told Sports Nation he pressed on with this case as often times in the past teams have gotten away with such breach.

“I’m safe-guarding the rules and regulations of the SFF as I don’t want the game to go into disrepute and people losing faith in the administrators,” said Mr Delorié.

He added that he has sent another case to the arbitration tribunal regarding the registration of St Louis Suns’ Malagasy Jules Rapiera and Congolese Jonathan Mbanze outside the June 15-July 15, 2012 trading window. In these two cases, the players got the GOPs on July 20, 2012.

Just to note that the SFF executive committee earlier this season forfeited the result of a match played by SMB against Au Cap after player Maxime Negela’s transfer from The Lions was not done properly.

Consequences
As a result of the investigation, La Passe have lost six points and Anse Reunion 15. According to a reliable source, La Passe fielded Rajaobery for two matches and Fagnorena played six games in the Barclays league division one. As a result, La Passe should lose all the matches the two players took part in, meaning the La Digue-based team should lose a minimum 18 points.

G. G.