The GFA Disciplinary Committee has imposed a GH¢5000.00 on Tamale All Stars in respect of their GN Bank Division One League match against Berekum Arsenals played in Tamale.
PANEL 1. Prosper Harrison Addo, Esq. - Chairman 2. Godfred Yeboah Dame, Esq. - Vice-Chairman 3. W.O.1 J.W. Amoo - Member 4. Godsway Glah - Member
Emmanuel Newton Dasoberi - Secretary
IN ATTENDANCE Raphael Tottimeh - GFA Prosecutor Alhaji Yakubu Moro - CEO, Berekum Arsenal (for Prosecution) Kwame Ntow Fiako, Esq. - Lawyer for Berekum Arsenal FC
THE CHARGE Tamale All Stars FC was charged with four (4) counts with regards to the GN Bank Division One League match between Tamale All Stars FC and Berekum Arsenals FC played at Tamale.
On the first count, it was alleged that at the Pre-Match Technical meeting of the match, Tamale All Stars FC officials prevented the GFA cameraman from filming the proceedings in violation of Article 35(1)(c) of the GFA General Regulations.
On the second count, it was alleged that Tamale All Stars FC officials prevented the GFA camera man from filming the match by threating him with injury and death should he attempt to cover the match in violation of Article 35(1)(c) of the GFA General Regulations.
On the third count, it was alleged that from the start of the match to the end of the match, Tamale All Stars FC failed to control their supporters (some of which were holding objects) when on a number of occasions they invaded the field of play without permission any time decisions went against them they threatened the match officials, verbally abused the match officials and attempted to physically assault the match officials should they lose the match. These alleged behaviors of the home club were said to be in breach of Articles 56, 58 and 59 of the Disciplinary Code and Articles 35(2), 35(3)(c) and 35(7)(d) of the GFA General Regulations.
On the fourth and final count, Tamale All Stars FC was charged for a breach of Articles 56, 58 and 59 of the Disciplinary Code and Article 35(2), 35(3)(c), 35(7)(a), 35(9) and 35(7)(d) of the GFA General Regulations following a Formal Complaint to GFA by Berekum Arsenals.
Berekum Arsenals FC in the Complaint signed by its Club Secretary, Mr. Kofi Ansu-Damoah requested for a replay of the match in question at a neutral venue due to the behaviour of the supporters and officials of Tamale All Stars FC. Berekum Arsenals FC stated that the club lost the match as a result of: a. threat of death, b. attack on their officials and the players with objects, c. bad treatment meted to the CEO and removal of the club’s CEO from the park, d. hitting the referee as well as the goal keeper with objects, e. match officials warned not to end the match, etc
According to Berekum Arsenals FC “the said match could not be played under conducive atmosphere rather on threat of fear of death put on our players by the irate supporters caused us to lose the match”. DEFENCE The Charge Sheet which was sent to the club and was also published on www.ghanafa.org stated that: You are required to submit your written Statement of Defence to the charge(s) on or before Friday, July 24, 2015 on or before 5pm at the GFA Secretariat or through email address to the Disciplinary Committee dc@ghanafa.org, failing which the Disciplinary Committee shall proceed to adjudicate the case without your Statement of Defence.
Should you choose Defence Options 3 (Personal Hearing) in your Statement of Defence, kindly attend the Disciplinary Committee on Friday, July 24, 2015 at 5pm at the GFA Secretariat to answer to the charge(s), failure which the Disciplinary Committee shall proceed to adjudicate the case in your absence.
On July 24, 2015 at 15:25 GMT, Mr. Elvis Nana Abeka Cofie, the Accra Representative of Tamale All Stars FC wrote the following to the Disciplinary Committee.
Good Afternoon, Please we acknowledge receipt of our charge but unfortunately we got it late when we are all outside Tamale preparing for our league game. We are therefore appealing to your high office to give us next week to file our defence for the charge in our match against Arsenal. Thank for understanding.
Considering the fixtures, the Disciplinary Committee granted the request. However, Tamale All Stars FC did not send any defence to the charges and also did not show up when the club was invited to the Disciplinary Committee hearing the Committee on August 13, 2015.
PROCEEDINGS AND FINDINGS The Committee examined the depositions in the Charge Sheet, the report of the GFA Cameraman, the formal Complaint of Berekum Arsenals FC and the reports of the match officials of the said match.
First and foremost, the Committee has established as a fact that the invitation was sent to Tamale All Stars FC and was also published on the official website of the Ghana Football Association (www.ghanafa.org) which has become one of the official modes of communication for the GFA since the GFA Congress gave the mode its approval on December 30, 2014. It is the view of the Committee that there is a proof that Article 35(19) of the General Regulations was complied with, and therefore Tamale All Stars FC has no excuse whatsoever for their failure to respond to the charges and the invitation to the GFA Disciplinary Committee.
Article 35(19) reads: “All official correspondence including but not limited to daily and weekly information updates, fines, debts, costs, notices, invitations, decisions, communiqués and any other information of the Association, its bodies, its Organs, its committees or the Secretariat shall be deemed to have been duly served on a club, its officers, players, supporters, agents, representatives or whoever described, if the service of the said correspondence is communicated to the Club or the Club Secretary or the Club owner, or the Club Representatives submitted to the GFA through its fax, e-mail address, postal address, or delivery of a hard copy thereof or is made or published through the GFA newspaper or newsletter or other national newspapers, the GFA website or announced through any radio station or television station or posted on the GFA notice board”.
The regulation in relation to counts one and two is very clear and unambiguous. Article 35(1)(c) of the GFA General Regulations states as follows:
“A club official, player or member of a club who a club or club official, player(s) or supporter (s) of a club who prevents the video coverage of a match by accredited F.A. officials shall be liable to a fine not below GH¢1,250.00, GH¢750.00 and Gh¢500.00 for Premier, First and Lower Division Clubs respectively.
The Committee holds that it will side with Article 85 of the Disciplinary Code on the facts stated in the match report and the evidence given by the prosecution. The Disciplinary Committee finds that officials of the home team prevented the GFA Cameraman from undertaking his duties at both the pre-match technical meeting and the match.
The Disciplinary Committee is satisfied with the evidence before it that the conduct of Tamale All Stars FC amounts to misconduct and a breach of Regulations of the GFA and shall accordingly apply the necessary sanction(s) against Tamale All Stars FC in this respect.
On the third count, the relevant provisions on ensuring the safety of match officials and all other stakeholders of the game are very clear and unambiguous. These include Articles 10 of the Division One League special Regulations and Articles 66 of the Disciplinary Code which places a huge responsibility on the home club.
In respect of the charges against supporters, clubs must also be mindful of Article 35(4) which states that “the Association shall hold clubs responsible for the misconduct of their supporters before, during and after a match”.
In this particular case, after reviewing the evidence and findings, the Committee is satisfied with the evidence before it that the conduct of the supporters amounts to a breach of the GFA Regulations and will sanction Tamale All Stars FC accordingly. The Committee urges all clubs to continue to educate its supporters and ensure the safety of all stakeholders who attend matches.
On the fourth and final count, the Committee was of the view that the issue to be determined was whether or not by the conduct of the home team, Tamale All Stars FC, the match was played in such an atmosphere to warrant the replay at the neutral venue as requested by Berekum Arsenals FC? Were the fundamentals required for an association football match so affected that the results must not be allowed to stand?
The Committee considered all the evidence in relation to this count. Whereas, the Committee agrees that the home team misconducted itself, it could not come to a conclusion that this affected the fundamentals of the match to such a degree to warrant a replay of the match. On each occasion the supporters of the home club acted in breach of the regulations, the security men restored order and the match continued. Again, it was not said anywhere in the evidence that the goal was scored illegally.
The evidence provided by the Prosecution and by its witness, Berekum Arsenals was not enough to convince the Committee to grant the request being sought.
The Committee is of the view that Tamale All Stars FC should not be allowed to perpetuate such unwelcoming behaviour at a football match. However, the Committee is of the view that ordering a replay of a match is not the solution on this occasion.
The Prosecution therefore fails on the fourth count and consequently the match results shall stand.
It is however the position of the Committee that Tamale All Stars FC must be punished for the intimation and misconduct to prevent re-occurrence of such unfortunate behaviours in future. DECISIONS
The Disciplinary Committee makes the following decisions:
1. That the Disciplinary Committee having satisfied itself that the evidence adduced before it supports the charge on count one and two against Tamale All Stars FC, hereby imposes a fine of an amount of One Thousand Ghana Cedis (GHc1,000.00) for preventing the GFA Cameraman from filming the Pre-match Technical Meeting and also the match itself.
2. That the Disciplinary Committee, having satisfied itself that the evidence adduced before it supports the charge on count three, hereby imposes a fine of Four Thousand Ghana Cedis (GH¢4,000.00) on Tamale All Stars FC.
3. That the fines mentioned in Decisions 1 and 2 above, shall be paid to the GFA within fourteen (14) days upon receipt of this Ruling, failing which Tamale All Stars FC shall automatically forfeit all subsequent matches after the said deadline in accordance with Article 15(b) of the GFA Disciplinary Code and Article 39(8)(b) of the First Amendment to the GFA General Regulations.
4. That of the amount of Four Thousand Ghana Cedis (GH¢4,000.00) to be paid to the GFA by Tamale All Stars FC per Decision 2 above, the Committee hereby orders the GFA to pay an amount of Three Thousand Ghana Cedis (GH¢3,000.00) out of the fine to Berekum Arsenals FC for the ills it suffered at the said match.
5. That the Committee hereby ban Tamale All Stars FC from playing one (1) home match at the venue and the Division One League Board shall decide where the club shall play the home fixture for the home match for which the club is banned.
6. That Tamale All Stars FC and its supporters are hereby warned to be of good behaviour and that should the club be found guilty of any misconduct or violent behaviour during the rest of this football season, the Committee shall apply the maximum sanctions against the club.
7. That should any party be dissatisfied with or aggrieved by this Ruling, the party has within three (3) days of being notified of this Ruling to appeal to the Appeals Committee (See Article 37(11) of the General Regulations of the GFA).