As Football Lover Speaks Negatively about the competition.
Monrovia, Liberia – Many football fans have questioned the legitimacy of National County Sports, especially those from the Bassa Ethic Group. Many of them expressed their anger on social media, claiming that the tournament no longer serves the same purpose as before.
They claimed that although the county meeting is for peace, reconciliation, and unity, all of these goals have been pushed aside in order to appease political pressures. The Bassa team made these remarks after they filed a complaint to the 2024/2025 National County Sports Meet Grievance and Complaint Committee and they were rejected.
The committee is chaired by Atty. Kollie Dorko, former Secretary General of the Liberia Football Association (LFA) in its unanimous ruling on Tuesday, January 21,2025, after the hearing said the protest is void-ab initio meaning ‘an action that never had legal effect.
Following the last group stage match on Saturday, January 18, 2025, Grand Bassa recently filed a protest against Bomi County for fielding two ineligible players (Edwin Wainpa, wearing jersey #23, and Sekou Kamara, wearing jersey #22).
According to the committee, the protest money was paid on January 20, 2025, almost six hours after the game, which is against article 17 subsection 7.1 of the county meet regulations.
Article 17 sub-section 7.1 states, “Protest grievances and complaints from a match must be registered on the match report sheet before during and immediately after the match and countersign by the opposing team’s captain to be followed by a formal letter within six hours during the preliminary rounds and 24 hours from quarter, semis and grand finals with a fee of twenty (20,000) thousand Liberian dollars.”
According to the Grievance and Complaint committee, Grand Bassa’s protest did not satisfy the threshold criteria under article 17 subsection 7.1. As a result, even if the case were to be heard on its merits, Grand Bassa would not win.
As confirmed during the hearing by the administrator of the MYS portal (player roster), the committee also acknowledged in the ruling that Bomi County featured the two players with the permission of the organizers, the Ministry of Youth and Sports.
Grand Bassa, however, has been granted 24 hours by the committee to appeal the decision and pay the organizers a non-refundable cost of 60,000 Liberian dollars.
On the other hand, the competition’s quarterfinals are anticipated to begin at the SKD on Saturday, January 25.
Maryland and Gbarpolu County play football at 2:00 pm, while Lofa and Bong Southings play in the second quarterfinal at 4:00 pm.
Grand Gedeh and Grand Cape Mount will come face to face in the third quarterfinal on Sunday, at 2:00 pm, while the final quarterfinal match will be between Nimba and Margibi at 4:00pm.
The organizers said, due to poor lightings system at the Stadium, absolutely, there is no extra time after the full 90 minutes of played in each match. Also, the basketball component of the event is expected to take place on Thursday, 23 January at the SKD GYM in Paynesville City.
Here are the fixtures:
Maryland vs Bomi – 10:00 AM
Bong vs Grand Bassa -11:00 AM
Montserrado vs Margibi – 12:00 PM
Grand Gedeh vs Grand Kru – 1:00 PM
Lofa vs Gbarpolu – 2:00 PM
Sinoe vs Rivercess – 3:00 PM
Grand Cape Mount vs Nimba – 4:00 PM
Reported by: Sylvester Tamba
Contact: +231776687195
