Stages FC Terms LFA’s Request for Court Excuse as ‘Delay Tactic’

(L-r) Stages FC President Chris Weah and CEO Emmett Glassco at a press conference in Paynesville

 

 

LFA 3rd division club, Stages FC, has termed as “delay tactics” the Liberia Football Association’s (LFA) prayer for excuse and postponement of a court conference that was scheduled for Wednesday, November 24, at the Monrovia City Court.

Both parties were due to sit for the conference following  a citation from the Monrovia City Magisterial Court, through  Associate Magistrate Quincy A. Q. Garnett.

It follows a complaint brought against the LFA President Raji by Stages FC, represented by and through its legal counsels that the LFA, through President Raji, has “violated their duly entitled rights as a member club” by having neither invited nor provided them congress documents for the just ended extraordinary congress held on Saturday, November 20.

The LFA, in its communication to Associate Magistrate Garnett, dated November 22, prayed for an excuse and postponement, noting that “President Raji, along with other senior members of the LFA will not be in the borders of Liberia” on said date (November 24) as “they are scheduled to attend the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Extraordinary Congress in Cairo, Egypt from Wednesday, 24- Tuesday, November 30, 2021, and will return to Liberia on Thursday, December 2, 2021.”

The LFA therefore prayed the court to postpone the conference to Friday, December 3.

But addressing a press conference Wednesday in Paynesville, Stages FC president Chris Weah told journalists that the communication from the LFA “is a delay tactic because Vice Presidents Sekou Konneh and Wilmont Smith, as well as Deputy Secretary General John Bonah and LFA Deputy Secretary for Legal Affairs, Benedict Yarsiah, are all in Monrovia.”

Mr. Weah believes that the “delay tactic” from the LFA is meant to ensure that the football house conducts the election of an Executive Committee Member to replace former EC Cllr. Joseph Kollie.

The LFA on Tuesday announced that it has approved the Election Committee’s recommendations to reopen, re-vet candidates, and set a new date for the election process after it was put on hold at the Extraordinary Congress (EOC) on Saturday, 20 November.

The LFA has set Wednesday, December 1, 2021 as the election date to fill the vacant EC seat.