St Augustine Secondary have lost their second case before the Secondary School Football League (SSFL) Disciplinary Committee—this time, for using a suspended player.
The “Green Machine” played left back Aaden Maharaj in their 3-0 win over East Mucurapo Secondary at their Warren Street, St Augustine home ground on Wednesday 9 October, although the player was cautioned in both preceding fixtures against Speyside High (7 October) and Trinity College East (5 October).
According to SSFL rules, any player booked in successive matches must serve an automatic one match suspension.
As such, the Disciplinary Committee ordered that “the game […] be forfeited in favour of the opposition” with “a combination of three clear goals and three points awarded to the opposition”.
East Mucurapo, at the foot of the Premier Division standings this morning, move to 15th in the 16-team table with nine points. But, crucially, they are just one point shy of 13th place Trinity College East.
The bottom three schools will be relegated to the Championship Division at the end of the league season.
St Augustine have 72 hours to decide whether to lodge an appeal, which will cost $1,000—with the fee only refunded if they are successful.
At present, the St Augustine team, led by head coach and maths teacher Tacuma Jones, are awaiting word on their appeal against sanctions for use of then unregistered attacker Shumba Cudjoe.
A leaked report today in the Trinidad Guardian suggested they lost that case too. Once confirmed, it would mean a seven-point deduction for the Green Machine, which would take them from seventh place with 21 points to ninth with 14.
Signal Hill Secondary, who protested St Augustine’s use of Cudjoe, gain an extra two points, which moves them to 12 points from 11 matches—just three points from safety.
The biggest beneficiary is St Anthony’s College, though, as they pick up three points with an overturned defeat.
The Westmoorings Tigers now leapfrog Arima North Secondary to fourth place with 27 points from 13 games, just two points shy of second place Fatima College and third place Presentation College (San Fernando).
Cudjoe, a former Bon Air Secondary student, was registered online to represent St Augustine on 29 and 30 September—days after he scored a late equaliser in a 3-3 draw against Signal Hill at Warren Street.
St Augustine, on 6 September, initially filed paperwork to register Cudjoe claiming that the player was a “bonafide student” of the school. The document was signed by acting principal Sharmila Labban. (Ms Nechole Seemongal is the St Augustine principal.)
However, Cudjoe was still a Bon Air Secondary student at the time. Worse, Bon Air registered Cudjoe to represent his school (the one he was in at the time) in the East Zone Senior and Under-16 divisions on 12 September.
Cudjoe was eventually transferred to St Augustine on 19 September, but no subsequent registration—whether online or via hard copy—was done until 29 and 30 September.
SSFL rules dictate that players only become eligible to represent their schools 72 hours after registration, which supposedly gives the Credentials Committee time to do background checks.
Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) second vice-president and Trinidad and Tobago Football Referees Association (TTFRA) president Osmond Downer appeared on behalf of St Augustine at the Appeals Committee and, allegedly, argued that online registration was not written into the SSFL Constitution. (Downer is a former St Augustine principal.)
It was a shifty argument from the start, since all schools accepted that only online registration would be used this season at a SSFL General Council meeting on 20 June 2024.
However, crucially, St Augustine could not produce any registration for Cudjoe—online or otherwise—between the day of his transfer from Bon Air and after their draw against Signal Hill.
Jones has indicated that he will not take the matter to the tribunal and accepts the decision of the Appeals Committee.
Matches in which Shumba Cudjoe played before he was registered:
- Sat 21 Sep: St Augustine Secondary 1 (Elijah Baptiste 67), St Anthony’s College 0 at Warren Street;
- Mon 23 Sep: St Augustine Secondary 0, Fatima College 1 (Luke Correia 15) at Warren Street;
- Sat 28 Sep: St Augustine Secondary 3 (Marcel Valentine, Giovanni Hospedales, Shumba Cudjoe), Signal Hill Secondary 3 (Kyle James [2], Israel Trim) at Warren Street;
- Wed 2 Oct: St Mary’s College 2 (Joshua Charlerie, Kyle Phillip), St Augustine Secondary 0 at Serpentine Road.
Match in which Aaden Maharaj played despite being suspended:
- Wed 9 Oct: St Augustine Secondary 3 (Shumba Cudjoe, Ky-mani Hazel, OG), East Mucurapo Secondary 0 at Warren Street.
Updated standings
2024 SSFL Premier Division
Pos | Club | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | St Benedict's | 15 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 36 | 7 | 29 | 41 |
2 | Fatima | 15 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 48 | 14 | 34 | 35 |
3 | Presentation | 15 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 33 | 10 | 23 | 35 |
4 | St Anthony's | 15 | 10 | 0 | 5 | 36 | 21 | 15 | 30 |
5 | Arima North | 14 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 24 | 11 | 13 | 24 |
6 | Naparima | 15 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 26 | 19 | 7 | 22 |
7 | QRC | 15 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 22 | 21 | 1 | 21 |
8 | Malick | 15 | 6 | 2 | 7 | 30 | 32 | -2 | 20 |
9 | San Juan | 15 | 6 | 1 | 8 | 25 | 28 | -3 | 19 |
10 | Signal Hill | 14 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 23 | 26 | -3 | 18 |
11 | St Mary's | 15 | 5 | 1 | 9 | 17 | 29 | -12 | 16 |
12 | St Augustine | 15 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 34 | -23 | 15 |
13 | Trinity East | 15 | 4 | 1 | 10 | 20 | 30 | -10 | 13 |
14 | Speyside | 15 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 21 | 34 | -13 | 12 |
15 | Mucurapo | 15 | 4 | 0 | 11 | 14 | 27 | -13 | 12 |
16 | Miracle Ministries | 15 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 8 | 51 | -43 | 7 |
Lasana Liburd is the managing director and chief editor at Wired868.com and a journalist with over 20 years experience at several Trinidad and Tobago and international publications including Play the Game, World Soccer, UK Guardian and the Trinidad Express.
Wired 868/Volley has published stories on three “rules issues” this SSFL season. So far. 1) Fatima’s decision not to select two players for league’s opening match for breaking school/team rules, 2) St. Augustine’s illegal use of ineligible players, and 3) the fielding of a possibly ineligible player by St. Benedict’s College. Wired 868/Volley opinion came down heavily on the side of the school/team in the Fatima case; and, I believe, in one of two St. Augustine cases, as well (supported by the decision of the League as we await the decision in the other); while there is a vociferous crew defending SBC in advance of any decision being formally delivered by either the Ministry of Education or the League after investigation.
We note the St. Augustine coach has said he will not appeal the decision on one of the matters levied against his school. And there is an absence of any “but he talented and SSFL is to showcase talent, so what; de elite against we; what about dem; dey doh like East people, all the critics is failures” drivel we have been reading regarding the matter involving the other school.
So we are to assume this story was published too late for people to catch it. Or it too early. Or the supporters accept that their school is guilty of breaking the rules, consciously, unconsciously or subconsciously, and they graciously accept the consequences. And/or they understand that part of “the hidden curriculum” of every school is to teach positive and productive values to the children, among them – honesty, respect for rules and procedure, and the need to earn and deserve the good things we reap from Life through legitimate activity – all of which amount to far more in the life of each student than winning three points or a title.