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On the same day that the new Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) executive committee unveiled its fixtures for the 2017 season came a decision that will force a do-over.
San Juan North Secondary are back in the Premier Division, despite the drawn out process of their relegation from the top flight—seven months after the last ball was kicked in the 2016 season.
(Courtesy Sean Morrison/Wired868)
This afternoon, at an extraordinary meeting of the SSFL general council at the Carapichaima East Secondary school, the membership voted 20 to 18 in favour of a motion to keep San Juan in the Premier Division.
The motion was moved by San Juan North vice-principal Joseph Taylor, who is also the president of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Referees Association (TTRFA), and implied that the school suffered unjustly owing to the shortcomings of various SSFL committees.
East Mucurapo Secondary and Presentation College (San Fernando) used schoolboys Abdus Ramcharan and Kori Cupid respectively in violation of SSFL rules. Cupid played a handful of games for the “Pres Lions” while Ramcharan represented Mucurapo for much of their season.
The SSFL credentials committee failed to spot the wrongdoing, which eventually came to light after protests by St Benedict’s College and Naparima College.
The SSFL disciplinary committee’s sanctions to either school for the violations—which came after the end of the season—meant a late rejig of the standings. And Queen’s Royal College (QRC) and Fatima College climbed out of the demotion zone as a result while Mucurapo and San Juan went in the opposite direction.
(Courtesy Nicholas Williams/Wired868)
The SSFL appeals committee and an independent tribunal rejected Mucurapo’s appeals.
Today, representatives from 20 schools voted to ignore the final standings and keep San Juan up anyway owing to the extenuating circumstances. No team will be demoted in their place and the competition now changes from 15 to 16 teams.
New SSFL president William Wallace confirmed the decision of the extraordinary meeting.
“The situation is we have to go with a 16-team Premier Division,” said Wallace. “At this point, this is what it looks like.”
Wired868 tried unsuccessfully to contact Taylor and San Juan coach Jerry Moe. Phillip Fraser, the San Juan North manager, said he did not wish to say much since he was also an SSFL vice-president. But he left little doubt about his feelings on the matter.
“I am elated,” said Fraser.
Wired868 understands that San Juan North’s survival owed much to political manoeuvring. There was, according to a source, an unusually high turnout of schools from east Trinidad who helped push Joseph’s motion through.
(Courtesy Sean Morrison/Wired868)
It created some unease within the ranks of the SSFL executive.
Was today’s decision for San Juan North a vote for morality and a sign that schools were prepared to take the initiative to save a member who was hard done by the law?
Or was it courting anarchy and disorder to retrospectively overturn the league standings and rule book? Could teams now ensure their survival by votes rather than points?
“My personal view is we have rules and are guided by the rules,” Wallace told Wired868. “You cannot change them after the fact. Going forward if you think you want to change rules then fine but not after the fact…
“However, the membership has spoken and therefore we have to abide by that.”
From a logistical standpoint, the impact of San Juan North’s reprieve is minimal. With 15 teams, one school had a bye on each SSFL match day. San Juan North will now be simply pencilled in to do away with the bye.
But what happens at the end of the season? Would four teams go down and three come up to create a 15-team competition once more? Or will the top flight remain at sweet 16?
(Courtesy Chevaughn Christopher/Wired868)
Wallace said it is a matter that the SSFL General Council will need to consider.
“There were two meetings today: an extraordinary meeting and a General Council meeting,” said Wallace. “The General Council made the decision that the three teams at the bottom of the table would go down and three [other] teams come up. So that has not changed.
“What happened is that, regardless of that, the extraordinary meeting decided that San Juan North should not go down. So only two teams go down from last season.”
The SSFL 2017 season will kick off on Thursday 8 September 2017 with a double header at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva. Newly promoted Carapichaima East face Fatima in the curtain raiser while defending champions Shiva Boys Hindu College tackle Big Four winners Naparima College in the feature affair.
San Juan North, the 2016 Intercol champions, should be in action not too long afterwards.
(Courtesy Sean Morrison/Wired868)
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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.
Would like to know the final breakdown of points taken away from Mucurapo and Presentation,to determine the final standing. Were all Presentation’s games reversed or just some?
Only the games in which the illegitimate players were used were penalised for both teams. Mucurapo used their player for three quarter of their season while Presentation did not (partly because he was also a national under-20 player and partly because they stopped using him when they heard of protest).
San Juan shouldn’t be punished. Had they known prior to, their organisation for games and the league would’ve been different.
However, the inefficiency by the credentials committee is evident, but guess what. We have people who on these committees voting !!!
The penalties for Mucurapo and Pres needs to be severe despite the inefficiencies of the committees.
If the Police can’t catch the thief it doesn’t make the thief less culpable.
You mean San Juan would have tried harder to win games if they thought they needed to? ??
Yes. The mindset would’ve been different if they know what they needed to do
But it doesn’t mean they weren’t trying to
Kirwin Weston what are you really saying?
Brian Harry I don’t agree with a rejig of points and then my team (not literally my team) being relegated. Especially since I did no wrong.
My real issue is the people who cause this bacchanal going virtually unscathed
I sympathize with San Juan. But they also need to look at themselves. They just didn’t get enough points. That was a key factor in their demotion too.
The two teams who did wrong got punished to the full extent of the rule book. If they want to make penalties harsher going forward then so be it.
If San Juan knew what needed to be done prior to they would’ve planned everything differently.
I don’t agree with a modification of points due to others and them tell me I out…na na na !
I also don’t agree with this 7 day for complaints or whatever it is … If it wrong… it wrong, was wrong, is wrong, will be wrong
Agreed. It should be seven days from when you discover wrongdoing. Whenever that might be.
All the teams would have done things differently Kirwin Weston!
Right…but one alone facing the fire for it #unfair
That’s because they applied themselves less than the other teams. The league got rules that applies to all teams.
Not sure how that is unfair.
I hear your view Timothy…but I don’t agree
Noted pal.
Guys.. if I discover wrongdoing from the previous season in this season, it would be difficult to enforce. Think there has to be a protest timeline from the date of infraction. Maybe 7 days could be changed to 10 or 14?? Just need better oversight all around in my humble opinion.
Kirwin..all teams agreed to abide by the rules. The rules were applied and San Juan was one of three demoted. If the majority of SSFL teams agree to change rules, then so be it. I haven’t heard any discussion of the rules being changed, by the way..
You all not grasping where I’m coming from
Thanks for the update Brian Jordan. Interesting times.
http://www.guardian.co.tt/sports/2017-05-19/demoted-san-juan-north-challenges-ssfl-ruling
Ryan De Gannes is saying that the “right decision has been made”. A decision was made that apparently will stand…doesn’t mean it’s the right one.
#farfromright #dangerousprecedent
And we wonder why the young people don’t respect rules and laws. we disregard the rules when it impacts on us and expect people to respect them
I didn’t realize San Juan broke any rules.
This country…this country… and we wanna blame and scorn politicians?
whats the purpose of an executive if the general council could take a position and pass by a simple vote?
Well that’s another story. But relegation should not have been on the cards for this from the get go IMO
well then Mucurapo should also not have been relegated
Ryan De Gannes…u have rules…if the rukes were the team that transgressed forfeit points …then thats the rules…quite frankly I think the team that transgressed shiuld lose more than three points.. but the real question is whose really responsible…the school?..of the credentials committee?
I believe Mucurapo were already in the relegation picture. San Juan went down purely through the reallocation of points. If relegation is the punishment then the teams who dishonestly fielded the overage players should be the ones.
Although even then, to punish young players for the misdeeds of adult administrators is counterproductive. School football is only for a very short window and during that time scholarships etc are at stake.
The school supposed to screen their intakes. The credentials committee is like an auditor, they can determine that something fishy has occurred but they don’t do the actually company accounts.
Schools choose to intentionally or unintentionally flout rules in the pursuit of trophies. Entirely the wrong focus at this level, but that’s another story. They should be punished, not the players.
well Ryan De Gannes..if yuh feel football bad…cricket worse…tadpole play fuh princes town when he was bout 20
Hahaha well yeah coaches and parents living vicariously through the players and forgetting the core essence of school sports.
steups…wereal jokey in this place yes
I think in schoolboy football more is at stake than just relegation. The futures of these boys as well as the school itself may be imperiled due to the dishonesty of a few adults. While I understand that there are rules and that those rules, if followed would mean San Juan are relegated, I believe the right decision has been made. This result is in line with the spirit of school sports which is primarily about development.
The reallocation of points and the rejig of standings is punishment enough IMO.
So it had nothing to do with San Juan having a poor season?? Really guys.
They were not in the relegation zone. So they performed well enough against teams that cheated to stay up.
3 teams finished below them.
So do you think now, that the teams that were moved out of relegation should now be sent back to relegation
Timothy Rochford no I don’t. But they are definitely no more deserving on merit, to stay up, than San Juan.
QRC is out of relegation based on the rules of the league. How we end up with merit???
Finally commonsense prevail….San Juan North deserve to be in the Premiership.
Steupss
one set of rules were broken then another set were bent.
Trini style!
After winning two knockout trophies in one season it really ain’t gonna be right to get relegated. I glad for them.
No trouble. Would like to know what are the role and functions of the Exec and Discipline Committee
Seems like democracy at work to me. Also its a game.
Hhmmm
VERY INTERESTING!
I am so happy for San Juan as a school and Jerry Moe as a Coach. Alhamdulilah
It is an interesting point Jamaal. But the reason for the driver being held too is to determine whether he was involved or not.
This particular SSFL saga has plenty emotion in it.
Emotion ? But if you are San Juan how could you not be emotional.
Lasana if a Lion in the jungle wake up hungry …sees a deer kills the deer and eats it. That’s good for the Lion but it not good for the Deer
Hahaha. Yeah. But if the rules say the slowest deer deserves to be eaten, what happens to the natural order of things if you reverse the law?
The constitution may say different but in this case the people stood with San Juan and they triumphed.
And I just heard the vote was infact constitutional. I dunno why the experts staying quiet.
You know when it comes to constitutional jargon I am no better than mookraj or mookesh
Hahahaha. I’m not saying it wasn’t constitutional. It was.
It just creates another dilemma. If East Mucurapo try the same thing for instance, what then?
I’m actually okay with the outcome. It is just the process that makes me a bit nervous.
The way it was done could create potential problems. But i haven’t gotten on to Joseph Taylor yet for a more in depth explanation.
What is your take on the precedent though? Think it might be a gateway for teams to stay up based on political clout rather than the standings, Jamaal?
Someone in a previous chat mentioned how unfair it was for the culprits to stay up. I think San Juan ended up like a driver who picked up a man who unknowingly had weed in his bag and the police stop them and carry down the driver too.
How often have we seen people and their instinctive love for justice act or react …..it can be termed a political act but call it what you like San Juan would have been unfortunate victims. And apart from Jerry Moe I carry no brief for San Juan. I am Gustine for life.
The vice principal said the school suffered due to the shortcomings of various SSFLcommittees…allyuh better organise the rules to kick out school s who breach the rules….
Political pressure?? Precedent being set could mean trouble later.
What is the difference between San Juan’s case and Mucurapo’s?
Mucurapo played an illegal player. San Juan didn’t break any rules. They just didn’t get enough points to be safe.
note. the Vice Principal of San Juan North is the president of the referees association, the manager is a vice president. I wonder if another school would have been so lucky. This is typical of Trinidad and Tobago, the rules are not for some people. If I was one of the demoted schools I was going to court
Lasana, apparently it’s not about points…not sure if it’s even about football.
great news
Uh… so from now on people just got to show up with their geographical crew and they’ll get what they want?
Is Mucurapo staying down?
Did San Juan North ever appeal to the SSFL appeals committee and an independent tribunal as Mucurapo did?
No. They didn’t.
Is that the correct process? To appeal in that forum?
Is the SSFL going to have another meeting to allow Mucurapo to move a motion and have everybody vote on it?
They should and so should Pleasantville..
I tired of this whole saga. It take too damn long to sort it out. And I eh agree with San Juan staying up. It was ah hard luck scene.
Agreed. Not sure its even done at this point..