Guyana FF takes football appeal to Court of Arbitration for Sports

Despite FIFA discarding Guyana’s appeal against the entity’s Disciplinary Committee for not reprimanding St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) for allegedly fielding an ineligible player, Guyana has officially taken its case to the Court of Arbitration.{{more}}

According to an official press release from the Guyana Football Federation (GFF), signed by general secretary Richard Groden: “The Guyana Football Federation (GFF) has taken its case against FIFA and the St Vincent and the Grenadines Football Federation (SVGFF) to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on the eligibility of Garvin James, who played for the St Vincent and the Grenadines National Team in the World Cup Qualification match against Guyana which was played at the Providence Stadium in Guyana on the 14th June 2015”.

The release added that: “The GFF instructed Sanjeev J Datadin, Attorney-at-Law, to file an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland.

“The Statement of Appeal was filed on the 3rd September 2015 and contends that Garvin James was not the holder of a St Vincent and the Grenadines Passport at the time the game was played as required by Article 19(3) of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Regulations. At the time of the game Garvin James was the holder of a United Kingdom Passport. He had a stamp inserted in that passport indicating he was a citizen of St Vincent and the Grenadines by descent. This is a violation of the said Article 19(3), which recognises a passport as the only form of valid proof acceptable.

“According to FIFA’s Disciplinary Code Article 55 (1) “if a player takes part in an official match despite being ineligible, his team will be sanctioned by forfeiting the match and paying a minimum fine of CHF 6,000.” If the GFF challenge is successful it would mean the Guyana Team would advance in place of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.”

According to the document: “The score in the match played between Guyana and St Vincent and the Grenadines ended in a 4-4 draw with the latter team advancing on the away goals rule. The playing of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines v Aruba on the 4th and 8th September 2015 is no bar to the imposition of a penalty by CAS on the St Vincent and Grenadines team and for Guyana’s team to rejoin the competition.”

On June 16, the GFF had filed a complaint to FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee, and was informed on July 29 by the Disciplinary Committee that “after careful examination of all the requested information and documentation, it was considered that no further intervention was necessary in such context.”

The GFF then followed up with an appeal to FIFA’s Appeal Committee but was once again notified that it was not a party to the relevant proceedings, and would, therefore, not be eligible to appeal.

FIFA further added that an appeal was lodged against a letter issued on July 29 by the FIFA Disciplinary Committee, and not against a decision of the Committee. The CAS appeal is expected to be heard and determined in the near future.