Arbitration Committee fingers Quan Kep; St Benedict’s lose third and final appeal

For the first time in the 10-year history of the Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) Premier Division, the champion school has been effectively stripped of its title.

Today, the SSFL executive committee confirmed that its Arbitration Committee ruled against St Benedict’s College and upheld prior sanctions by the school body’s Disciplinary and Appeals Committees for registration issues surrounding team captain, star striker and leading goal scorer Derrel “Zoom Zoom” Garcia.

St Benedict’s were deducted 12 points by the SSFL for using Garcia while he was not a valid student. As a result, the “La Romaine Lions” finished fourth in the standings—nine points behind eventual winners, Fatima College.

The schools’ body has regularly had registration issues. However, in previous cases, the executive met and handed out sanctions well before the end of the league.

In 2017, for instance, Shiva Boys’ Hindu College were relegated due to registration issues related to their use of midfielder Kieron Mason and left-back Matthew Beal. However, in both cases, the SSFL executive—then led by president William Wallace—acted so promptly that Shiva Boys still had a chance to make up the necessary points to stay alive in the top flight.

In contrast, the current schools’ football executive, led by Merere Gonzales, dithered.

On 5 October, former Malick Secondary teacher and ex-Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) technical committee chairman Keith Look Loy publicly questioned Garcia’s registration.

Then, on 23 October, Wired868 published an exclusive report based on a leaked document at the Ministry of Education, which declared that the gifted schoolboy was not a valid student.

The 2024 Premier Division season was still in full flight at the time.

Yet, inexplicably, the SSFL did not make a decision on Garcia until 30 December—weeks after the entire schoolboy season, inclusive of the National Intercol competition, was completed.

The Gonzales-led body’s sluggish response meant that Fatima were denied the chance to win the title during the active season.

It also meant St Benedict’s played in the 2024 Intercol competition with a seeding that should have gone to the second-placed team, Presentation College (San Fernando).

Still, all three quasi-judicial bodies were clear that the main culprit in this charade was St Benedict’s College principal Gregory Quan Kep.

Quan Kep, along with manager and teacher Ravi Ramgoolam and attorney Christophe Brathwaite, asked the Arbitration Committee to mirror its 2024 ruling in the matter of Miracle Ministries Pentecostal High School (MMPHS) and Moruga Secondary against the SSFL.

Last year, the SSFL punished MMPHS and Moruga for registration errors, only for the Arbitration Committee to declare that the schools’ body’s Credential Committee, which gave the respective teams player IDS, were most culpable.

Quan Kep noted that Garcia also had a player ID. Therefore, he said the SSFL contradicted itself by saying he was not a proper player.

“Under the rules and operating procedures for the 2024 season, all players […] must have an SSFL ID available for inspection,” stated Quan Kep. “[…] It is an undisputed fact that Mr Garcia was supplied with an SSFL 2024 ID. This ID proves that Derrel Garcia was legitimately registered as a player in the SSFL 2024 season.”

However, the Arbitration Committee, which comprised Anthony Creed, Ruben Hansraj, Theophilus Trim and Wallace, disagreed.

“On the issue of the school [being] given permission to play Garcia since he was in possession of an ID, it is assumed the ID was given based on the information at hand,” stated the committee, “so the status quo remains until there is reason to terminate same.

“The nature of this case does not, as in the 2023 issues with Moruga and Miracle Ministries, clearly establish the lack of due diligence on the part of the SSFL.”

The Arbitration Committee further stated that the SSFL cannot be blamed for a principal operating outside of its rules.

“As educators, we are familiar with the protocol to follow when a student is away from school for a term, and in Garcia’s case, he was away for one academic year,” stated the report. “[…] The League is described as a ‘Principal’s League’, and it is expected that the information submitted to the League by the school will be in line with the constitution and the rules and regulations of the League.

“In other words, principals are expected to contribute to the governance of the League. When the school registers a student to play in the League, there is an assumption that certain basic criteria like attendance, which is controlled and monitored by the principal/his representative via an official document, is in order.”

The Arbitration Committee dismissed Quan Kep’s claims of bias against St Benedict’s because attendance records were not requested of players at other schools.

“The questions on Garcia’s status were in the public domain and therefore came to the attention of the League, and the question was, since Garcia was away for one academic year, whether the practised protocol of reinstatement was followed.”

And, in keeping with the prior rulings, the Arbitration Committee leaned on St Benedict’s attendance record, as revealed by the Ministry of Education, which gave his first day of school in 2024 as 8 October.

Quan Kep claimed that Garcia started his school term on 30 September and produced a photograph of the boy on the compound in jeans and jersey at 2.15 pm. He was, according to the school, there to collect his booklist.

The SSFL Constitution states clearly that players must attend class to be deemed active students—not just be seen on the compound.

Notably, Garcia was registered while he was an inactive student. The Arbitration Committee pointed out that “when a student is attending school and is absent on any given day, an ‘0’ is put in the column [alongside the student’s name in the roll book]. However, in this instance, a line is drawn indicating that the student was out for an extended period.”

So, Quan Kep registered Garcia to play for St Benedict’s while he was not an active student, and the player was never re-registered during the 2024 season.

The SSFL Constitution declares the penalty for registering an invalid student to be immediate suspension and, as a result, relegation.

Almost certainly, Ministry of Education chief education officer Aaron Ramrattan’s refusal to declare Garcia to have been a non-student at the time—as the relevant school supervisors did—saved St Benedict’s from being relegated as were schools like East Mucurapo Secondary and Manzanilla Secondary in similar circumstances.

The Arbitration Committee upheld the previous rulings but did not add to them.

“The Arbitration Committee unanimously supports the decision of the Disciplinary Committee and endorsed by the Appeals Committee,” stated the report, “that St Benedict’s College was in breach of SSFL Constitution Article 16 with the registration of player Derrel Garcia.

“[…] The penalties articulated by the Disciplinary Committee […] shall stand.”

Fatima have now won two Premier Division titles in a row. They will be seeking a hattrick in 2025.

St Benedict’s will still be around and, no doubt, would do their best to deny them on the football field.

2024 SSFL Premier Division

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Fatima	15	12	2	1	50	11	39	38
2	Presentation	15	11	2	2	33	10	23	35
3	St Anthony's	15	11	0	4	38	19	19	33
4	St Benedict's	15	9	2	4	28	16	12	29
5	Arima North	15	6	6	3	26	14	12	24
6	QRC	15	7	3	5	24	19	5	24
7	Naparima	15	6	4	5	26	19	7	22
8	San Juan	15	7	1	7	28	27	1	22
9	Signal Hill	15	6	3	6	26	28	-2	21
10	Malick	15	6	2	7	30	32	-2	20
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

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Lasana Liburd

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.