Monrovia — Grand Bassa County has filed an appeal with the Appeals Committee of the National County Sports Meet regarding the actions of the National Steering Committee of the County Meet, which fined the county $2,500 USD and suspended three of its football team officials.
By: Christopher C Walker [email protected] 0777898224/0886723075
The decision to fine and suspend officials of Grand Bassa was made following the premature end of the 2023-2024 National County Sports Meet third-place football match between Nimba and Grand Bassa on Saturday, May 4, 2024. The match ended prematurely after Grand Bassa players contested a penalty awarded to Nimba County.
Grand Bassa officials and players believed that the penalty was unfairly given against them and chose not to continue the match. At the time the penalty was awarded to Nimba, Grand Bassa was leading 1-0 with over 30 minutes left to play.
In what was seen as an unprofessional move, the Grand Bassa technical staff demanded that their players leave the pitch because they felt the penalty was unfairly given. Despite the willingness of the Grand Bassa players to continue the match, they were forced by their technical staff to leave the pitch. Consequently, they left the playing field with 30 minutes remaining in the match.
Despite several attempts from the Ministry of Youth and Sports and match officials to persuade the Grand Bassa players to return to the match and continue, they refused to resume, forcing the match officials to end the game and award the points to Nimba County. Nimba County received a cash prize of fifty thousand Liberian dollars as the third-place winner.
A day after the unfortunate situation, the Ministry of Youth and Sports decided to fine the county in accordance with the rules of the tournament. The Ministry of Youth and Sports fined Grand Bassa US$2,500.00 following the county’s refusal to continue Saturday’s third-place match against Nimba County.
The NCSM Steering Committee, in a statement signed by its Chairman, Cole Bangalu, said Grand Bassa’s action violated Article 21.2 of the rules and regulations governing the county meet. Article 21.2 states, “Any county which refuses to play or withdraws from a scheduled game without the consent of the Organizing Committee shall be fined Two Thousand Five Hundred United States Dollars (US$2,500.00) to be deducted from the county’s next year preparatory funds, in addition to forfeiture of the match.”
Grand Bassa Team manager, Ezekiel Johnson, Administrative Assistant Victoria Geeplay, and Philip Kangar, a member of the Grand Bassa Sports Steering Committee, were also suspended from all Ministry of Youth and Sports organized activities for two years.
According to the statement, the trio incited and instigated the refusal and ‘unprofessional’ behavior of the Grand Bassa Football Team.
In response to the punishment, the Grand Bassa Sports Association said they were taken aback by what they termed a harsh decision by the National County Sports Meet Steering Committee without due process or a hearing in accordance with the rules of the game.
“Penalizing Grand Bassa based on a mere referee report that is not void of error is tantamount to misrepresentation, biasness, and unfairness which continue to characterize this year’s County Meet,” BSA Chairman Gabriel Montgomery maintained.
“While leading Nimba, a son of the county and Deputy Sports Minister, Andy Quamie, went onto the Match Commissioners’ bench to influence decisions in favor of his county.”
“Quamie’s inherent hate for Bassa saw him influence Technical Director James Debbah’s red card in our game with Rivergee County followed by a controversial penalty that brought Saturday’s third-place game to a standstill,” the appeal letter added.
Grand Bassa alleges that the Deputy Minister of Sports also told a National County Meet gathering that Bassa would go nowhere in the tournament, something they believe was a result of the team’s not progressing far in the tournament.
Grand Bassa wonders why Andy Quamie, a Minister and a son of Nimba, was sitting on the match commissioner’s bench when he was not a match commissioner during that game. Isn’t that a classic conflict of interest?
“Why was the pitch evasion during the Bassa game with Margibi ignored? Is this not a system failure?”
“While it is true that the leadership of the BSA does not support walking out, the LFA referees, who see this tournament as a means of enrichment, are causing a complete system failure that cannot be trusted.
“Red carding Debbah, the Bassa Technical Director, for example, was a tactical plan to reduce the morale of our team that led to a horrible and irreparable defeat to Rivergee.”
“At the same time, the BSA would like to state categorically that Madam Victoria Geeplay, Administrative Manager, participated in nothing whatsoever during the stand-off; her suspension is completely unfortunate and out of order,” the communication, signed by Togar Alexander Bealded, head of BSA media relations, stated.
With such an appeal from Grand Bassa, one may wonder if the Sports Ministry will consider reducing the fine and suspension or stand by their earlier decision.