The Disciplinary Committee of the GFA has dismissed a protest by Kotoku Royals F/C claiming that B.A. Stars F/C fielded three unqualified players in their Round of 32 FA Cup match on 21 January 2012 at Akyem Oda.
The match was won by B.A. Stars but after the the said match Kotoku Royals filed a protest against B.A. Stars for fielding three unqualified players - Benjamin Dadze Jeremin, Oscar Amponsah and Malik Yeboah.
After a hearing which both teams attended, the Disciplinary Committee declared as follows:
- According to B.A. Stars, the licenses were with the I.T. manager of the FA at the time of the match. This is because he was not available to release same.
- The import of article 16 (6) b of the regulations is that if the licenses were in the custody of the club and for some reason(s) could not produce them for inspection then those licenses would have to be submitted to the FA within 72 hours after the match. The essence of this provision is for the FA to be sure or satisfied that the players were in fact duly registered. In this case B.A Stars claims the licenses were with the F.A so their situations is not affected by article 16 (6) b. All they have to do is to satisfy the committee that the players were indeed registered at the time the match in question was played.
- Our investigations at the F.A. Secretariat revealed that the registration window closed on 8/12/11 and therefore a lot of licenses including that of the affected players of B.A Stars were duly processed before the 21/01/12. It is also true that the I.T manager went on a Regional educational tour and clubs had to wait for him to come back to collect their processed licenses. Also it is not true that at the time of the match in question the licenses of the affected players were not signed by the GFA. The fact is that the new electronic licenses are not signed by any official unlike the old cards or licenses.
- In the circumstances, B.A. Stars cannot be said to have breached articles 16 (4) b, 26 and 27 of the regulations. By the records of the F.A. Benjamin Dadzie Jeremin, Oscar Amponsah and MalikYeboah were duly registered and eligible to play the match in question.
- The protest therefore is hereby dismissed.