IN THE ONGOING NATIONAL COUNTY SPORTS MEET
The 2022/2023 National County Sports Meet’s Protest Committee, which is chaired by seasoned sports journalist Malcolm Joseph, has made decisions about the many protests that were brought up throughout the tournament’s zonal stages and have given those decisions to the organizers. The committee suggested that Grand Bassa receive three points in response to a protest Grand Gedeh County made for fielding players with two yellow cards, which is against competition article 24.1.
Bassa now has six points instead of the previous four points after this decision, but they still came in second place to group A champion Rivercess County, who had nine points. The committee also suggested that the outcome of the Bong vs. Sinoe Counties match be upheld.
The technical team from Sinoe County claims that Bong broke the league’s article 14.2 by signing up and fielding five players from the 2nd division simultaneously, which is against the rules of the competition. Nevertheless, the objection committee determined following its fact-finding that Bong County did not, in any manner, register and field five players in the 2nd division as it was claimed by Sinoe County. Therefore, the committee recommended that the match’s final score, which was 2-1 in Bong’s favor, be upheld.
Grand Cape Mount County’s protest against Bassa for allegedly violating article 13.13 by fielding four players from the 2nd division in a single match was rejected, according to the protest committee. The Committee claims that after conducting a thorough examination, they discovered that Bassa did not field four players from the second division despite recommending that the match’s outcome be upheld.
Again, Grand Gedeh County filed a protest against Grand Cape Mount County for violating article 13.1 of the competition which states that the tournament is only for Liberians. They also claimed that Cape Mount featured players bearing the name: Victor M. Sonni against them but the committee did not observe anything of such during the fact findings.
In the meantime, the committee acknowledged that anyone who was displeased with any verdict might proceed to the appeal committee for redress following the announcement of various protest rulings on Thursday, December 29, 2022, at the Ministry of Youth and Sports. The Ministry of Youth and Sports has finally been given the decision, thus the quarterfinal match scheduled for January 7 and 8, 2023, will go as scheduled.
On the first day, Lofa will play Grand Bassa at 5 p.m. while Rivercess County will play Nimba County at 2 p.m. At 2:00 pm on Day 2, Margibi will face Montserrado. At 4 o’clock, the final quarterfinal between Maryland and Bong will take place. The quarterfinal, semifinal, and championship matches are all slated to take place at the SKD Sports Complex in Paynesville, as has become customary for the sport.
Reported by: Sylvester Tamba
