The GFA Disciplinary Committee has demoted Wa African United to Division Three of the Regional Football Association for the 2015/16 football season.

THE CHARGE Wa African United FC was charged with one (1) count as per the Charge Sheet with regards to the club’s withdrawal from the GN Bank Division One League in the second round of the competition. Wa African United FC was alleged to have sent a letter of withdrawal to the GFA during the second round of the GN Bank Division One League in breach of Articles 14(1), 14(2), 14(3) and 14(4) of the GFA General Regulations.

Wa African United FC was therefore charged for withdrawing from the GN Bank Division One League after the commencement of the competition without just cause. Wa African United FC was given the opportunity to justify why the club should not be sanctioned by the GFA for the club’s failure to comply with GFA regulations on withdrawal with regards to Articles14(1), 14(2), 14(3) and 14(4) of the General Regulations.

DEFENCE Wa African United FC did not respond to the charge even though the Charge Sheet was sent to the club and was also published on GFA’s website www.ghanafa.org. The Charge Sheet clearly stated as follows:

The Club is required to submit their written Statement of Defence to the charge(s) on or before Thursday, October 1, 2015 on or before 5pm at the GFA Secretariat or through email address to the Disciplinary Committee [email protected], failing which the Disciplinary Committee shall proceed to adjudicate the case without the Statement of Defence.

Should they choose Defence Options 3 (Personal Hearing) in the Statement of Defence, they will attend the Disciplinary Committee on Friday, October 2, 2015 at 3pm at the GFA Secretariat to answer to the charge(s), failure which the Disciplinary Committee shall proceed to adjudicate the case in their absence.

PROCEEDINGS AND FINDINGS The Committee examined the depositions in the Charge Sheet and the letter of withdrawal from Wa African United.

The Committee established as a fact that the Charge Sheets was sent to Wa African United FC and was also published on the official website of the Ghana Football Association (www.ghanafa.org) which has become one of the official mode of communication for the GFA since the GFA Congress gave the mode its approval on December 30, 2014.

It is the view of this Committee that there is a proof that Article 35(19) of the General Regulations was complied with and therefore Wa African United FC has no excuse whatsoever for their failure to respond to the charge and the invitation to the GFA Disciplinary Committee.

The relevant provisions on this matter are very clear and unambiguous. Article 14(1) and 14(2) of the GFA General Regulations states as follows: (1) It shall be misconduct for a club to withdraw from a competition after the competition has started without just cause.

(2) Any club intending to withdraw from any competition must give notice of its intention to do so to the GFA not later than eight (8) days before the commencement of the competition. Should a club fail to comply with this rule the Association shall have the power to compel such offending club to refund any expenses incurred and take such further action as it may deem fit.

There is no denying the fact that Wa African United FC’s letter of withdrawal from the GN Bank Division One League sent to the GFA fell short of the mandatory eight (8) days before the commencement of the competition as required under Article 14(2) of the General Regulations.

The question left for the Committee to determine is whether the reasons given for the withdrawal amounts to just cause.

On Tuesday, July 28, 2015, the Disciplinary Committee delivered its decision in a protest brought by Techiman City FC against Wa African United FC for causing the abrupt end of their GN Bank Division One League match.

The Committee having found Wa African United FC to have forfeited the match, awarded three (3) points and three (3) goals in favour of Techiman City FC and also imposed a fine of Two Thousand and Five Hundred Ghana Cedis (GH¢2,500.00) pursuant to Article 34(5)(a) of the General Regulations of the GFA.

Now it was upon receipt of the said decision that Wa African United FC sent a letter entitled RE: WA AFRICAN UNITED FOOTBALL CLUB AND TECHIMAN CITY DIVISION 1 MATCH dated July 29, 2015 and signed by Nana Gyamerah Kwabena Yiakwan I, the Chief Executive Officer, to the General Secretary of the GFA. The club stated in the said withdrawal letter as follows (unedited)

“We write to inform you that the match between Wa African United Football Club and Techiman City was a fixed match which the two (2) sides agreed upon and we were given GHc2,000.00 (Two Thousand Ghana Cedis).

We would like to state that here that our supporters never invaded the field, but rather due to the heavy down pour of rain which made it impossible to continue the match, and the referee, the match commissioner and the officials of the teams agreed to abandon the match.

In view of the decision of the Disciplinary Committee to find us an amount of GHc2,500.00 (Two Thousand Five Hundred Ghana Cedis), we are withdrawing from the Division 1 League with immediate effect”. We count on your utmost co-operation.

According to the prosecution, even though the letter was being addressed by the GFA, Wa African United did not continue with the league and refused to pay any fines it owed to the GFA to date.

It is position of this Committee that a club cannot decide on its own without the permission orconsent of the GFA to withdraw from a competition after its commencement even if the club feels aggrieved about an issue.

The Club also refused to appear before the Committee to justify its withdrawal from the competition. The point must be made very clearly that once a competition starts it is only the GFA that can permit a club to withdraw from the competition. The Committee is satisfied with the evidence before it that the conduct of Wa African United FC amounts to a breach of the GFA Regulations.

Having found that the withdrawal of Wa African United was done without just cause, we shall resort to Article 14(3) and 14(4) of the GFA General Regulations. The said regulations state as follows:

(3)Without prejudice to any provision in these Regulations, the GFA reserves the right to take appropriate disciplinary action, including expulsion, against any club which withdraws from a competition or fails to honour any match without just cause.

(4) A club failing to give satisfactory reason for scratching or withdrawing without first obtaining the consent of the Association, shall not be allowed to enter the competition the following season.

Thus, per the GFA regulations, the punishment for such a breach of the regulation may range from a warning to an expulsion of a member from the Association. In the instant case, we wish to leave the area of expulsion to the Congress of the GFA. This Committee, however, wishes to set the precedent that withdrawal from a competition without just cause will attract a minimum punishment of demotion to two divisions below in addition to other punishment depending on each case. This is so because demotion to one division below is not a deterrent punishment as it comes as a matter of cause following the withdrawn club’s position on the table.

The Committee is also mindful of the requirement of Article 14(2) of the General Regulation to compel such offending club to refund any expenses incurred and take such further action as it may deem fit. The sanctity of the competition must be maintained to attract sponsorship and also guarantee the needed mileage for the sponsor.

DECISION That for, Wa African United FC, withdrawing from the GN Bank Division One League after the competition has started without just cause, the Disciplinary Committee makes the following decisions: