Berekum Arsenals lose protest, fined GH¢5,000

The Ghana Football Association’s (GFA) Disciplinary Committee (DC) has dismissed a protest filed by Berekum Arsenals FC against Brong Ahafo United in respect of their match day 16 Division One League match.

Consequently, the committee imposed a GH¢5,000.00 on Arsenals for filing what it termed a frivolous protest at its last sitting on Friday, May 14.

Arsenals would have 14 days upon receipt of the ruling to pay the fine, failing which the club shall forfeit their subsequent matches after the said deadline.

The Berekum club’s protest was to draw the FA’s attention to the failure of B.A United to pay affiliation fees of GH¢2,500 to the GFA before playing their match day 16 encounter at the Sunyani Coronation park.

According to Arsenals, the petitioners in the case, B.A United FC failed to pay the fee which qualifies them to be part of the GFA and to play in the DOL.

It was their case that not paying their affiliation fees to the GFA makes them unqualified to play against Berekum Arsenals, concluding that the BA United FC should be declared losers of the said match.

But in their defence, the Apostles of Power Soccer argued that Arsenals failed to adduce any relevant provision in the GFA Statutes and DOL regulations to back their case.

BA United FC stated that payment of affiliation fees was an administrative process enforced by the GFA through the General Secretary, adding that “any Club that fails to pay the affiliation fees is deemed not to be in good standing and shall suffer punitive sanctions accordingly which shall include forfeiture and deduction of points administratively.’

BA United averred that the burden of proof was on Arsenals and not to send the DC on a hunt to fish for information which was clearly not in existence and confirmed payment of the fee for the 2020/21 DOL season; praying the committee to award punitive cost against Arsenals FC for filing a frivolous protest.

But Arsenals protest failed on grounds that BA United did not owe the affiliation fees.

The committee stated that the protest was not only frivolous but vexatious and an abuse of the disciplinary process.

“The committee is disturbed that clubs have taken its lenient posture to embark on their “fishing” expeditions by filing protests when they may not be clothed with all the requisite evidence to do same.”

It said should any party be dissatisfied with or aggrieved by the decision, the party has within a day of being notified of the ruling to lodge an appeal to the Appeals Committee.

BY TIMES SPORTS REPORTER