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St Augustine Secondary are set to be the first football team to officially run afoul of the Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) registration rules for the 2024 season.
The “Green Machine”, according to a ruling by the SSFL Disciplinary Committee on 11 October, used utility player Shumba Cudjoe in four Premier Division matches and one East Zone Under-16 match before he was properly registered.
St Augustine lost 1-0 but could face further sanctions as Cudjoe was ruled to be improperly registered at the time.
Photo: Daniel Prentice/ Wired868
The protest against St Augustine was launched by Signal Hill Secondary. Both teams played to a 3-3 draw on Saturday 28 September, with Cudjoe netting the equalising goal.
The SSFL Disciplinary Committee, headed by Laurence Seepersad, found that St Augustine principal Sharmila Labban signed a registration form for Cudjoe—along with 22 other players—on 6 September 2024. Cudjoe was still a Bon Air Secondary student at the time.
The versatile attacker officially transferred to St Augustine Secondary on 19 September and made his debut two days later in a 1-0 win over St Anthony’s College on Warren Street, St Augustine.
However, the Disciplinary Committee found that Cudjoe was only properly registered for St Augustine, through online registration, on Sunday 29 September via the 001 form and on Monday 30 September via the 002 form.
Photo: Daniel Prentice/ Wired868
St Augustine head coach and school teacher Tacuma Jones, according to the ruling, attributed the issue to “a mix up with the registration of players, which was registered under Arima North Secondary”.
As the first named school in the Premier Division, Arima North were the default school for teams when they registered players.
However, the SSFL committee found “no evidence that […] Cudjoe was registered on the 001 or 002 form online under Arima North Secondary”.
In keeping with the registration deadline, the SSFL ruled that “all matches in which Shumba Cudjoe played before 10.56pm on Wednesday 2 October 2024, be forfeited in favour of the opposition […] with three clear goals and three points awarded.”
Photo: Nicholas Bhajan/ Arima Araucans Academy
St Augustine, according to the SSFL Constitution, have 72 hours by which to lodge an appeal—if they choose to do so.
The Disciplinary Committee decision, once implemented, strips St Augustine of four points gained from outings against the “Westmoorings Tigers” and Signal Hill, while it also alters the margin of their defeats to Fatima College and St Mary’s College on 23 September and 2 October respectively.
Fatima laboured to a 1-0 win in St Augustine. However, the SSFL ruling means they now have a 3-0 win. And St Mary’s 2-0 triumph over the Green Machine now also stands at 3-0.
The damage might have been worse. St Augustine were due to play Speyside High on Wednesday 25 September but were forced to postpone the game after travel issues.
Photo: Daniel Prentice/ Wired868
Last week, in a rescheduled game, the Green Machine defeated Speyside 2-1. Had the game played two weeks earlier, Cudjoe’s appearance might have cost his new school another three points.
On Monday 30 September, Cudjoe also helped St Augustine to a 3-0 win over Trinity College East (TCE) in an East Zone Under-16 match.
The SSFL ruling did not specifically address that competition, which falls under the East Zone.
Richardson, a national under-14 player, could miss any chance of playing in the East Zone Under-16 semifinals based on the Shumba Cudjoe ruling.
Photo: Daniel Prentice/ Wired868
At present, St Augustine are fourth in Group B of the East Zone Under-16 division and would need a mini-revival to advance to the knockout rounds. If Trinity East are awarded the points, though, it would move the “Blue Hawks” above Hillview College to first in the group.
TCE would then need only a draw away to Hillview on Monday 21 October to advance to the East Zone semifinals.
In the Premier Division competition, St Anthony’s, a passive party in the Signal Hill protest, are potentially the biggest beneficiaries. They would leapfrog Naparima College, Arima North and Fatima to move from sixth to third place in one swoop, seven points behind leaders St Benedict’s College.
Photo: Daniel Prentice/ Wired868
If the Tigers win their game in hand against Naparima, they will be four points behind St Benedict’s.
St Augustine, on the other hand, would fall five places from seventh to 12th spot—four points above the relegation zone. It would be a bitter blow for the newly promoted team who, with 14 points and six games to play, appeared to have confirmed their top flight survival for the 2025 season.
Wired868 can confirm that the SSFL Disciplinary Committee ruled on 11 October and, four days later, schools were informed of the decision in writing.
Photo: Daniel Prentice/ Wired868
The SSFL is yet to communicate the ruling to the public or update its standings. President Merere Gonzales said his body prefers to wait and see whether the affected school would appeal.
“Regarding communication of the [Disciplinary Committee] decision, what is more important is it has been communicated to the two schools,” Gonzales told Wired868, “and they have the time by which to appeal.
“So, we have to wait and see if the school directly affected would appeal—before dealing with the standings.”
Photo: Daniel Prentice/ Wired868
Jones, the St Augustine head coach and school teacher, did not respond to Wired868’s request for comment up until the time of publication.
Editor’s Note: Wired868 understands that St Augustine Secondary has decided to appeal the decision of the SSFL Disciplinary Committee.
St Augustine Premier matches involving Shumba Cudjoe, before he was registered online:
- 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.
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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.
Whats the big deal? Rules are Rules and therefore should be abided by. However these are school boys in a non professional league and as such school administrators sometimes are not fully aware or get caught up with their professional tasks.
What should be enforced is schools recruiting other school players!! The more established schools will be the only beneficiaries!!