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St Augustine Secondary won their appeal yesterday against the Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) Disciplinary Committee’s decision to penalise the school for failing to appear at a rescheduled Premier Division match away to Signal Hill Secondary.
On Tuesday 25 November, the Disciplinary Committee, chaired by Essiel Seecharan, declared that Signal Hill be awarded three points and goals after St Augustine failed to appear for their contest on Monday 17 November.
Photo: Nicholas Bhajan/ Wired868.
The “Green Machine” were also a no-show for their initially scheduled trip to Tobago to face Signal Hill on Saturday 27 September.
However, St Augustine acting principal Nechole Seemongal lodged an appeal on two points—the first being that the Disciplinary Committee was not properly constituted since only two members, chair Essiel Seecharan and assistant secretary – operations Gerald Elliot, heard the matter.
St Augustine coach Tacuma Jones and former principal Osmond Downer, who is also second vice-president of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) and chair of the Referees Committee, represented the school before the Appeals Committee.
The Appeals Committee felt there was no need to review St Augustine’s second point.
Looking on (from left to right) are Norris Ferguson, Phillip Fraser, Gregory Wales, Gerald Elliot and Anthony Creed.
(Copyright Allan V Crane/ CA-images/ Wired868.)
Article 12 of the SSFL Constitution states that the Disciplinary Committee: “is an independent body who may call on a minimum of three members to adjudicate upon any matter of which it becomes sized”.
Seecharan’s panel, which ruled on St Augustine’s alleged forfeiture, was clearly unconstitutional.
The SSFL Appeals Committee so ruled on Friday 5 December, within minutes of hearing the matter.
Remarkably, it took another seven days before the Appeals Committee decision was formally sent to St Augustine. And the decision to have the matter re-heard by a “properly constituted” disciplinary committee was not welcomed by the school.
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The SSFL Constitution declares that its disciplinary committee must be “independent”. But St Augustine officials are adamant that officers of the league cannot be considered independent in the circumstances, when it is their decisions or management of the competition that is another question.
Ironically, it is now 23 months since the SSFL Arbitration Committee, chaired by former schools football president Anthony Creed, blasted the composition of SSFL committee over potential conflicts of interest—since officers sat on committees that reviewed decisions that they or their executive colleagues ruled on.
The Disciplinary Committee’s verdict on St Augustine’s no-show in Tobago looks to be another example of that.
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To date, SSFL president Merere Gonzales has not responded to questions related to a letter of inquiry by St Benedict’s College acting principal Gregory Quan Kep over Naparima College’s registration of winger Jaydon Caprietta.
Wired868 was told by informed sources that the SSFL will not penalise Naparima for registering Caprietta under the wrong school, Northgate College.
It is uncertain whether the SSFL decided not to make its ruling public, despite the obvious implications for the integrity of the competition—Naparima are the 2025 Premier Division, National Intercol and South Intercol champions.
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Or if, as was the case with St Augustine, the Gonzales-led body is simply taking its own time in sharing the decision.
Once more, the Arbitration Committee’s ruling in the 2023-24 case of Miracle Ministries Pentecostal High School and Moruga Secondary vs the SSFL is worth reading.
In that case, the two aforementioned schools registered players and were given IDs by the SSFL, only to be told—at the end of the regular season—that several of their players were improperly registered and they had to forfeit almost all of their points for that season.
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There are, arguably, parallels with Caprietta’s case.
Naparima registered the former National Under-17 wingback in the SSFL’s database on 10 September and received an ID for the player to represent his school.
Presumably, “Naps” did not know anything was amiss until Wednesday 26 November, when St Benedict’s complaint led to the revelation that Caprietta’s paperwork was registered under East Division school, Northgate, instead.
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“Evidently, schools have no official knowledge whether their registration is valid/ invalid before the season/ match, and schools only know of an invalid registration, at some point during or after the season, when a protest is lodged,” stated the Arbitration Committee, in January 2024.
“This is extremely unfair to the schools and has the potential to undermine the efforts of the SSFL and to continue to provide its stakeholders with a reputable co-curricular sporting opportunity.
“[…] Notably, registration using the online platform appears to have been a challenge without SSFL or help desk support to ensure that any challenges experienced were rectified/ addressed in the shortest possible timeframe by both the SSFL and registering school.”
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Almost two years later, there is little to no evidence that the Gonzales-led body has addressed the inherent conflict of interest within the SSFL’s disciplinary committee or addressed the farcical management of their registration process.
At present, anyone with internet access can initiate registration of a player for a SSFL team.
In St Augustine’s case, coach Jones is considering taking the matter before the Arbitration Committee—in an effort to avoid returning to the Disciplinary Committee.
Photo: Nicholas Bhajan/ Wired868.
The stakes are high. If the SSFL Disciplinary Committee rules against the Green Machine, they will be relegated to the zonal competition.
However, San Juan North Secondary, also cash-strapped, were granted $8,000 from the SSFL for their travel to Tobago on Monday for a rescheduled match against Scarborough Secondary.
One of those two teams will be relegated. San Juan need at least a draw in Shaw Park, while Scarborough will be demoted with anything short of three points.
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The funding for San Juan North’s travel to Tobago allegedly came from revenue raised by the SSFL from Wednesday’s National Intercol final.
St Augustine hope to receive a similar grant, which would allow them to decide their fate on the field of play.
It is worth noting the SSFL executive informed its members, prior to the start of the 2025 season, that it could not guarantee funding for inter-island travel and the remaining 14 Premier Division schools made do without it.
Photo: Nicholas Bhajan/ Wired868.
As such, St Augustine’s request for funding was not guaranteed to receive a positive response—although the payment to San Juan North might have strengthened their hand.
There are other moral considerations.
If St Augustine travelled to Signal Hill on 17 November, they would have met the Tobago giants in an uncompromising mood as they tried to pull within striking distance of leaders Naparima.
At present, though, Signal Hill are third with no chance of finishing higher up the standings, although they could fall to as low as fifth with a defeat.
Photo: Nicholas Bhajan/ Wired868.
In short, St Augustine are likely to be motivated about avoiding relegation than Signal Hill would be about finishing either third or fifth.
And, if the Green Machine take even a point off Signal Hill, it is Malick Secondary who go down instead—along with bottom-placed Carapichaima East Secondary and either San Juan North or Scarborough.
The 2025 Premier Division season is not nearly over yet.
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Naparima College winger Jaydon Caprietta was not properly registered to represent his school for the 2025 Secondary Schools Football League Read more
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.
