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Defending Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) Premier Division champions Shiva Boys Hindu College tasted their first defeat of the season today—but it did not come on the field of play.
The SSFL disciplinary committee deducted three points from the “Penal Princes” after Naparima College successfully protested against Shiva Boys’ use of utility player, Kierron Mason.
Costa Rica won 1-0.
(Copyright Straffon Images)
In a letter to the relevant schools, the SSFL Disciplinary Committee declared that: “Kierron Mason was ineligible to represent the school as a player in that game. Therefore the results of the game will overturned and Naparima College will be awarded 3 point & 3 goals.”
Shiva Boys have 72 hours to decide whether they wish to appeal. If they choose to appeal, they must pay TT$1,000 for the right to do so.
Mason, a former Naparima student and National Under-20 Team defender, debuted for Shiva Boys in their SSFL opener against his old school on 8 September. Shiva Boys won that outing 2-1 and, up until this morning, were the only Premier Division outfit with a 100 percent record after victories in all five outings.
However, Mason apparently became a Shiva Boys student just two days before the match and a SSFL notice—issued to all schools on 17 July 2017—insisted that all Form Five repeaters and Lower Six Intakes must be registered 72 hours prior to their first game.
Naparima team manager Percy Samlalsingh was wise to the infraction and told Wired868 that he lodged a protest with the match commissioner even before kick-off.
Mason only featured as a second-half substitute against Naps and it looks to have been a costly cameo for Shiva Boys.
(Courtesy Allan V Crane/CA-images/Wired868)
Naparima are believed to have protested Mason’s registration as a student and as a school footballer. They won on the second count, which meant a reversal of their opening result against Shiva Boys. Had Mason also been declared improperly registered as a student, the defending champions could have been suspended from the rest of the competition, according to the SSFL Constitution.
However, Shiva Boys manager Sheldon Maharaj said the matter is not over yet.
“We will be appealing it,” Maharaj told Wired868. “We are sending in the letter to appeal in the morning.”
There is little question as to whether Mason is worth the trouble in the long run, though. Tall and tidy in possession, the versatile midfielder is Shiva Boys’ highest scorer so far this season with five goals—albeit with three items from the penalty spot.
Mason’s tally is joint level with Presentation College (San Fernando) attacker Omri Baird while only San Juan North Secondary attacker Brandon “Sprite” Semper, who has six goals this season, has scored more.
(Courtesy Sean Morrison/Wired868)
Mason is a Lower Six student at Shiva Boys where he is studying Business, PE and Communications.
The SSFL’s ruling means Presentation College go to the top of the standings with 13 points while Shiva Boys drop one place to second with 12 points and Naps climb six spots to third place with 10 points.
Remarkably, the fourth-placed SSFL team, Fyzabad Secondary, is also from South Trinidad, which has dominated the Premier Division from its inception. The South Zone’s fifth and final top flight school, St Benedict’s College, is having a tougher time of things, though, as they are one place off the foot of the table at present.
Naparima and Presentation square off from 3.40pm tomorrow in a southern derby at the Mannie Ramjohn Stadium in Marabella while Shiva Boys travel to Bourg Mulatresse where they face San Juan North.
(Courtesy Allan V Crane/CA-images/Wired868)
SSFL Premier Division fixtures
(Wednesday 27 September)
Presentation College v Naparima College, 3.40pm, Mannie Ramjohn;
St Benedict’s College v Signal Hill, 3.40pm, Barrackpore;
Fatima College v Trinity Moka, 3.40pm, Fatima;
St Mary’s College v Carapichaima East, 3.40pm, St Mary’s;
Trinity East v QRC, 3.40pm, Trincity;
St Anthony’s College v Speyside High, 3.40pm, St Anthony’s;
St Augustine Secondary v Fyzabad Secondary, 3.40pm, St Augustine;
San Juan North v Shiva Boys HC, 3.40pm, San Juan.
(Courtesy Chevaughn Christopher/Wired868)
Adjusted SSFL Standings
(Played-Won-Drew-Lost-Goals For-Goals Against-Points)
- Presentation 5-4-1-0-13-4-13
- Shiva Boys HC 5-4-0-1-14–4–12
- Naparima 5-3-1-1-11-6-10
- Fyzabad Sec 4-3-0-1-6-4-9
- Fatima 5-3-0-2-5-4-9
- San Juan N 5-1-4-0-13-6-7
- Trinity East 5-2-1-2-8-5-7
- St Augustine 4-2-1-1-8-6-7
- St Anthony’s 4-2-1-1-8-6-7
- Carapichaima E 5-2-1-2-7-7-7
- St Mary’s 4-1-2-1-8-10-5
- QRC 5-1-1-3-4-10-4
- Speyside High 5-1-0-4-3-11-3
- Trinity Moka 5-1-0-4-4-16–3
- St Benedict’s 5-0-2-3-5-12-2
- Signal Hill 5-0-1-4-3-9-1
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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.
This only happened because of the name of the school.
So true
If Shiva Boys was one of the “prestigious
I see a couple of comments here about preference being given to prestige schools… anyone remembers the 2012 South Intercol Final when Pres were leading Shiva 2-1 with 10 minutes to go and a Shiva supporter came onto the field and started fighting with the linesman and they asked for the game to be replayed… Shiva ended up winning the replay on penalties… who was on the short end of the stick wasnt it the so called prestige school?
That game was bold thief d lines man knew what he was doing very good just so pres could win ,shiva is the one who seem to me always getting a raw deal ,u ent here he Carol John
Smh… ok
He seriously brought up that day Malona… negro plz
He crazy girl like it really have more mad people out side than inside wee ????
Boi bye eh!!!!!! only 10 mins were played over so what’s ur point????? Have many seats negro…….. Come with sum else nah smh
He doh know we have it lock down d lines man working coast guard n he does do lines work too in pro football to n according to his people he love to thief????? raise your flag when u supposed to but no Carol John
He never here bout we lol ask my nephew n he is ah pres man n i doh mine n d other nephew is bendicks boy ????ent Michael Kenyan Johnson
He doh know we can go whole day????? he we Shiva ladies knows our football Malona Thick Darkie Samuel
He aint kno who he’s dealing withAntonia Christchild Johnson but if he pushes it he’ll learn
Or suffer the consequences(mind u we the supporters of Shivaboys do not condone violence or any acts of violence.. thank u)
It’s just shocking to them that we kno our thing and are very passionate supporters Carol John so they always misinterpret our passion for violence
But way yankki he done already ?????
I remember that game well. Again it shows the incompetence of the Ssfl. Shiva benefited that day from the ssfl . And it sent a wrong message to supporters of the schools
Stpzzz Naps, all yuh sad. SSFL let the ex national player play he football nah man. He attends Shiva right? I think the problem is certain schools will be granted favor because of their longstanding with SSFL. SMH SAD!!!
So true last year pres played a player n naps n shiva protested guess who did not win the protest ,they need to stop this crap
Its not because shiva knew what they did all am saying if was d other way around Shiva would have never won that so call protest what naps say they protesting for o gosh if ah child leave naps n doh want no part to play with naps again that hurting them so
Seems to be NAPS Modus Operandi…..once their rivals out do them they protest…..
Stay grounded S B.
We living in a world of petty spineless punks who cheat and exploit kids annually and will do anything to win at all cost even if it means destroying a young man in the process . look at the examples our former so called soca warriors setting eg Sancho stern hound Angus eve a rougier l lewis
Something eeally wrong with Trini logic and morals yes. So lemme get this…Shiva broke the rules….but Naps wrong for pointing that out? If Naps broke rules the onus is on the other schools to point that out (the same way Naps pointed out that Shiva broke the rule).. i see nothing wrong in Naps action to warrant all this talk about trying to destroy Mason career. If anyone is trying to destroy his career is Shiva Boys …..because there are other rules they broke concerning his registration as well…..So Sosa…think before flying off the handle…and get the facts….getting facts saves you from talking nonsense
I understand that Naps also does be involved in doing illegal football things themselves with respect to the players eh and Coach Angus Eve has the nerve to protest eh. Them really good yes steeuuppss
But they have not been caught …..AS YET…..
Like what Mango? Any example would do?
Example former naps players have more titles than passes these guys don’t go to class some don’t even attend school
A lot of the players they recruit can barely read and write but that’s not their concerns once you can ball is all they care about check for yourself the majority of naps players who left school either in pfl or working construction cepep or kfc
Waiting for illegal examples from Mango sir. Everything you cite should be addressed by decent parenting.
Naps dont stick with the appeals at all bai lmao
Lord plzzzzz i beg of u to bless my fingers make pure the comments i type …… It’s all in God’s hands ppl… The battle is not ours it’s the Lord’s for we battle not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers……. Lord we put this into ur hands because u are the all powerful God!!!!!! Thank u for all that you’ve done are doing and is about to do for our team…… Your will be done!!!!!!! Thank u for the titles although we ain’t see it yet thank u in advance…… Come on Antonia Christchild Johnson Carol John pray with me God knows best!!!!!
Hallelujah Sister..victory in Jesus name
Yessss
This is a tradition that Principals takes these boys just to play football Check out many of their backgrounds, how could he be only doing 2 subjects, That’s a disadvantage to the young man. As a niece of mine once told me when she attended a college in East. The teacher told the class, no one is interested in how many CXC subjects you have , the school gets the glory, Its not about you (the students).So Shiva Boys actions, isn’t it familiar? where is the parents role in all this?
I get an instant headache with this bs now reach home from d hospital with J’lyssa to see this oh lord what else????
The bootleg Coach Angus Eve is a dutty blasted snake eh trying to destroy the youth football career eh. steeuuppss. Them really good yes,
Mango…how Angus becomes the focus of Shiva Boys breaking the rules? You know for a fact that the protest was raised and lodged by Angus right? Brother yall need to get facts before tarnishing people name. If u check u wld see Naps the school had Mason’s record because he was a student there before….guess where he had to go to get his transfer from? BINGO Naps….so they knew based on the time he got it that he wld not be registered 72hrs before the 1st game…..So Naps the school…not Angus raised the complaint…..im living in the north and know all this by just making a phone call and asking the manager of Naps…..but u wldnt do that though…..much easier to sit and blast the name of the coach who stopped you from talking to his team ent……alyuh really good yes
Shiva boys knew what they did but got caught
This football was supposed to play the saturday n not the friday it is said that they got d ok to play d child but because is naps the table turn ,saturday he would of been clear to play free
Didn’t know that
Yes i know shiva team is honest people n would never do something to loose points ,but as i say is naps ,like last year pres played a player ,so naps n shiva protested ,guess who won the protest n who did not ,when ask y they say naps protested for something else up to this day we cannot know what d something is ???
If he went naps there would be no protest he was good enough academically to go naps but not Shiva
This protest was not about academic eligibility bro.
The boy turn down naps so this is what the protest is all about
Why do I feel there is a ring of truth to your statement.
Naps win on a serious technicality. he was only registered 48hours before the game and the rule is 72 hours according to the info ….but like nobody reading the damn rules…..no wonder this place in a mess….
He was never seen in the school for almost a year and he came earlier that week to transfer to Shiva…moreso he is nowhere near academically qualifed to be attending either institution. I know this being a past student of Naparima.
Well they know the so call big teams like Naps and other teams cant best them on the field so they have to find other ways for Shiva Boys to lose points
Everyone needs to play by the rules as they consented to. If Naps breaks such , which is yet to be proven, they will assuredly be punished.
D point is last year d other so call prestige school broke the rule ,shiva n naps protested n nap won the protest n not shiva y is that ,y is that because naps is prestiage n shiva is not so unfair but we the players n supporters praying for out team doh worry
Always have a problem with games being awarded under these technicalities.
..Rules is rules..
For real
John-michael Herrera
After last season, one would have expected the SSFL to do a better job of ensuring schools understood if and when a kid was eligible to play. I believe there was even a discussion of implementing a database to assist in this regard. What happened to all those plans Aaron Pollard??
Sigh I don’t know what really going on but this seems to be the norm now. Every other game there seems to be a protest
why does this happen so often?? do the school administrators not ensure that ALL players are sanctioned by the MoE prior to them playing for the schools??and naps just love to protest,even though they allow non-sea pupils to enrol just for playing Trinidad and Tobago Secondary Schools Football League – SSFL and many students repeat with the concurrence of the naps hierarchy.
Always want to fight down Shiva boys smfh every year so they always finding faults but that won’t hinder them they still gonna win the SSFlalways remember God give the toughest battles to his strongest soldiers?s stay prayed up shiva an show them how its done#shivatotheworld
#thecomebackalwaysstronger
#toomuchfightdown
It is not a matter of fight down… rules are rules and if u break them ur punished for it… simple
I doh know y they just doh tell shiva they doh want them in d football ,haters wee
Yannick Manning u are fighting a losing battle hun…… Let’s be realistic: 1- if the game was played on friday as it was scheduled to be played in the 1st place what would’ve been their grounds for peotesting????? 2- If mason didn’t come from naps would they have even protested????? Forget about team/s be mutual ans answer me these two questions honestly plzzz!!!!
Mason want to play with a honest winning team any thing wrong with that ??????
Yannick Manning an my point still remains the same they always fighting down shiva an finding faults smh an I hope u would notice Shiva always come back strong???
#peopletobiaswii
#shivatotheworld
#shivastilltakingthetitle??
#whothecapfitwhereit
#GODgotus
Poor gamesmanship. Win at any cost.
Cah slip at all
Apparently not but what is the irony of this protest is naps taking anyone in south who can play football with a boots
Dion…I thought schools were learning institutions but like nobody learn anything from last year.. ..Eh…
It good
Smh always want to fight down Shiva boys and they still gonna take home the winning title,God don’t like ugly at all smfh that’s the best u can come on here to say it good
He is ah good for nothing doh study he Shiva in d tail ?????
They done start the protesting shit
They too nasty last year when pres played a player n naps n shiva protest naps win d protest n not shiva y n naps end up back in d big four ,,this is madness
That won’t hinder shiva boys.
And so it begins….so Mason only doing 2 subjects at A levels in Shiva? Communications is a compulsory subject so it means he only really doing Business and PE at Lower 6. I smell another protest coming
Communications replaces General Paper? Students MUST do three subjects plus Communications? There wasn’t even PE after Third Form in my day…
This fella is 19 years old and now in lower 6??? Something very wrong with that equation!!
Steve the cut off limit to play in the SSFL is 20.
You have to do 3 subjects. Compulsory Communications and Caribbean Studies replaced General Paper. I am not sure about the SSFL rule on how many subjects you are required to do but it’s 3 and the 2 compulsory for CAPE
And yes Lasana, PE is a CAPE subject since 2015
I’m an old man Aaron. Lol. Ok. I really have to get my hand on the SSFL regulations. I know there is a rule on how many passes you must have to play in Form Six because Mucurapo got stung with that last year.
I have no idea whether there are a certain number of subjects you have to be doing too. Nobody would want Shiva Boys to play with Mason for the whole season and then be relegated like Mucurapo.
I think is four
The question is not only how many subjects you need to play when entering Form 6 but also what is the minimum amount of subjects you need to be able to qualify for and register for in Lower 6
Lasana Liburd the system has changed drastically. I saw last year where you can have 3 to get into lower 6…
Lasana Liburd SSFL never laid out any rule as to how much unit u should do at cape. The only cape rule is- If the player is a A level transfer/ repeat they must have at least (1) pass at cape. Other than that all you need is 4 CXC to go to form 6 based on SSFL credential committee rules. So 3 units is permitted.
So a student could register to do 1 subject alone? Juh. Madness
Based on SSFL standards yea. Lol