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Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) president Merere Gonzales has, uncharacteristically, kept a still tongue in the past two weeks. During that period, Gonzales has not taken or returned calls from Wired868 to address pertinent matters related to the competition he heads.
There are multiple disciplinary matters from the current season that remain unresolved even though we are now at what should have been the climax of the 2024 SSFL calendar.
Photo: Daniel Prentice/ Wired868
The Boys National Intercol final kicks off at 5pm today between St Benedict’s College and Fatima College at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva—immediately after the Girls final between St Joseph’s Convent (Port of Spain) and Pleasantville Secondary, carded to start at 3pm.
But, with disciplinary matters swirling over St Benedict’s, how are both sets of players and supporters to contextualise today’s contest?
It is almost three weeks since the SSFL Disciplinary Committee offered the executive a ruling on the status of St Benedict’s captain Derrel Garcia. This report was neither made public nor even shared within the SSFL’s membership.
Instead, on 19 November, general secretary Azaad Khan revealed that attorney Tyrone Marcus had been hired to give the committee a legal opinion. The committee had made no such request.
Photo: Daniel Prentice/ Wired868
Two full weeks later, Marcus has still not provided that legal opinion to the relevant committee.
“[There is] information I have to get from the ministry that I still have not received,” Marcus told Wired868. “I am not in a position to complete it without that.”
Already, though, there have been two reports emanating from the Ministry of Education—one from the relevant school supervisors and the other from the acting chief education officer—while the disciplinary committee chair is a senior member of TTUTA and thus well placed, with the help of the Education Act, to make a determination on what constitutes a valid student.
Additionally, there is the case of decisive penalty shootout saves from St Benedict’s custodian Thane Devenish in the National Intercol semifinal against Signal Hill Secondary, which appear not to be in accordance with the relevant law(s) of the game.
Photo: Daniel Prentice/ Wired868
A formal protest was lodged by Signal Hill on Monday 2 December. If it succeeds, the Intercol semifinal will need to be replayed.
The SSFL executive, which Gonzales leads, has so far offered only silence as a response.
At this stage, the SSFL competition continues only because of the patience and generosity of the member schools, who have so far declined to file a formal injunction.
Photo: Daniel Prentice/ Wired868
But, with questions over both major trophies, 2024 might go down as the most controversial school season since the Dom Basil Matthews days—which saw St Benedict’s eventually stripped of titles for using over-age players.
St Benedict’s stand to “lose” titles this year in the disciplinary room. But they are victims too.
On 30 August 2024, the “La Romaine Lions” submitted registration documents for their players for the upcoming season and included Garcia in their squad although at that stage he had not attended classes for 15 months.
Garcia, who represented Trinidad and Tobago at the 2024 Concacaf qualifying series as an overseas-based player, is too high-profile for that registration to not have raised red flags within the SSFL Credentials Committee.
If the schools football officials were proactive, a quick phone call might have defused the issue even before a ball was kicked this season.
(Not that this absolves St Benedict’s principal Gregory Quan Kep or team manager Ravi Ramgoolam, who is also the SSFL South Zone vice-chair, from their parts in this furore.)
Photo: Daniel Prentice/ Wired868
On 23 October 2024, Wired868 revealed a damning leaked report from Ministry of Education school supervisors, which claimed that Garcia was not a valid student.
There was still time for Gonzales and his gang to take action to safeguard the integrity of the 2024 Premier Division league and Intercol competitions. But, when it was needed most, decisive leadership went missing.
Six weeks have passed since that watershed moment. There have been Wired868 articles on the matter, as we tried to update readers and interested parties—but official comment from the SSFL has been scarce.
Photo: Nicholas Bhajan/ Wired868
In that period, St Benedict’s have gone on to win seven games, including the two controversially decided on kicks from the penalty spot.
In those seven matches, Garcia scored 13 goals. So, not only is the 17-year-old attacker a proper talent, he surely is also as tough as nails mentally.
But it is unfair to be having the best football moments of your life while, simultaneously, wondering if you are writing your achievements with disappearing ink.
Photo: Daniel Prentice/ Wired868
Not just Garcia but all the St Benedict’s players and supporters also deserved timely resolution by the SSFL.
If Gonzales and his executive know that their disciplinary committee ruled against St Benedict’s, how could they continue to charge their supporters at the gates—knowing there is a high likelihood that their team’s results would not stand?
Should St Benedict’s be penalised for their registration and use of Garcia in 2024 (potentially, two related but different issues), Fatima will be crowned this year’s Premier Division champions.
Photo: Nicholas Bhajan/ Wired868
That fact alone will almost certainly add an unpleasant undertone to today’s National Intercol final.
But how does one contemplate the possibility that today’s result might be struck from the record and a semifinal replay ordered, because it apparently takes the SSFL executive more than three days to rule on whether or not a penalty kick save is valid?
It is beyond absurd.
Photo: Nicholas Bhajan/ Wired868
How not to conclude unequivocally that Gonzales and his band of administrators have destroyed the integrity of the schools game in 2024?
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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.
It’s time to let go people.
His name was submitted and something probably got delayed administratively. That doesn’t make a player illegitimate to be on the field of play. Every team who played St Benedicts could have beaten them and if they did, we would not be having this discussion today.
Rubbish!
If only life were that simple.. But it ain’t so deal with it.