Liberia: Lofa’s Protest against Cape Mount Dismissed
Grand Cape Mount goalie jubilates after their goalless draw against Lofa that booked their ticket to the quarterfinals .
Protest by LOFA County regarding Cape Mount County, featuring three first division players instead of two in the December 18 match between the two counties, has been dismissed by the Protest Committee of the National County Sports Meet.
The committee, after conducting hearing into the protest, established that the protest letter from Lofa was not submitted within the stipulated time frame as enshrined in the rules and regulations governing the 2021/2022 national county sports meet.
The committee also established that the Protester (Lofa) could not prove that the captain of Grand Cape Mount or an official of the county’s team signed on to the protest as required by the rules and regulations governing the National County Sports Meet.
𝙍𝙪𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜:
Lofa county violated article 17.1 of the 2021/2022 rules and regulations of the national county sports Meet as their protest letter, received by the Ministry of Youth and Sports on December 19, 2021 at 3:30 PM is clearly beyond the stipulated period for the submission of protest, since the match was played on December 18, 2021.
Article 17.1 states: “Protest Grievances and complaints from a match MUST be registered on the match report sheet before, during and immediately after the match, and counter-signed by the opposing team’s captain to be followed by a formal letter within four hours during the preliminary rounds and 24 hours from quarter-, semi- and grand finals. The complaining county shall pay a non-refundable fee of twenty thousand Liberian dollars.”
Meanwhile, Lofa have filed an appeal against the committee’s decision with high hopes that the result from the appeal will go their way.
Bong and Gbarpolu Protests
Meanwhile, Bong and Gbarpolu Counties also lost their respective protests.
Regarding Bong’s protest, the committee established Fransico Pajibo was an unused substitute in the Mano River Union tournament and didn’t feature for the senior national team as claimed by Bong. It also established that Pajibo did not receive two yellow cards prior to the game against Nimba.
Gbarpolu lost their protest against Bomi for using Murphy Miller, after the committee established that player Miller registered and played for Sandi FC in the 2019/20 LFA second division league that was nullified.
It also established that Bomi did not use four second division players.