The CAF Appeal Board has upheld the decision of the Organising Committee for the U-17 Championship to disqualify Ghana from the final round of the qualifiers of Niger 2015 Championship.
The decision was taken following the Appeal Board’s sitting on Wednesday, 26 November 2014 at the CAF Headquarters in Cairo, Egypt.
The Board confirmed that the Ghana FA has breached the provisions of article 40 of the U-17 African Championship which stipulates: “A team which fields a player who does not fulfill the required conditions to take part in a match, shall lose the match and shall be eliminated from the Championship.”
On 13 September 2014, Ghana played against Cameroon in the 1st leg match of the 3rd round of the U-17 Championship qualifiers.
After the match, the match officials informed CAF that Cameroon protested against the qualification of seven (7) players from Ghana for being over-aged. Following examination by the MRI tests, adverse findings were noticed in the case of two players;
1- Asiedu Benjamin Kwesi
2- Twum Isaac
The Appeal Board observed that taking into consideration the reports from the medical centers as well as the reports of the CAF Medical Committee member and the additional CAF consultants, the result of the MRI scans of player Asiedu Benjamin Kwesi were clear and confirmed that he was eligible to take part with the team, and that there was no confusion between all the readings and the conclusions.
Nevertheless, concerning the player Isaac Twum, the board decided that it had to take into consideration the conclusive reports sent by the CAF Medical Committee and readings confirmed by the Medical experts.
The Appeal Board fully appreciates the elements submitted for its review and in conformity with CAF Regulations and based on its firm conviction, the Board has decided to:
– Declare as admissible in law the appeal lodged by the Ghana Football Association.
– Confirm the decision taken by the Organizing Committee of the U-17 African championship dated 25th October 2014.
– Confirm the elimination of Ghana U-17 team from the U-17 championship and confirm the qualification of Cameroon to the final phase of the competition.
Meanwhile, this decision may be appealed at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland; within 10 days of its notification.
Credit: cafonline
