Adecision by the appeals committee of the Gambia Football Federation in favour of Baalor FC the regional champions of West Coast against Young Africans FC, the regional champions of Banjul has resulted in a dramatic change of fortune for both teams.
Baalor accused Young Africans of fielding an eligible player against them in a second division promotion playoffs match, a claim found to be valid by the appeals committee which stripped Young Africans off the three points for the match and awarded them to Baalor.
The resultant change in the standings now means that Young Africans lost its promotion to second division and replaced by Baalor with its new found three points.
A statement from the GFF reproduced below, explains the saga in details:
“The Appeals Committee of The Gambia Football Federation (GFF) convened on 12th September 2024 to review an appeal filed by Baalor Sarr Football Club of Faraba Banta, Kombo East, against the eligibility of player Alberto Gomez. The player in question played for Banjul’s Young Africans in their 4-2 second division promotion playoff post-match penalty shootout defeat of Baalor Sarr played at the home of Gambian football, the National Technical Training Centre on 15 July 2024.
The Committee, following a thorough review and careful deliberations found out that Young Africans weren’t only guilty of using Gomez when they knew he wasn’t eligible, but they were in fact in violation of several regulations of the GFF Disciplinary Code. The Committee discovered that Alberto Gomez played in the said match when he wasn’t registered with the GFF Competitions Department, which is in violation of Article 32 of the GFF Disciplinary Code. Meanwhile, the Appeals Committee further discovered that Young Africans in fact forged the player licenses of Sulayman Faye, Alpha Badjie, Ebrima Nyang, Lamin Badjan, Abdou Touray, and Alberto Gomez, which also is in violation of Article 38 of our rules and regulations.
Alberto Gomez’s name was also not included in Young African’s 30-man list at the time of the match. Therefore, he was not registered as required by the regulations, and instead, Bakary Gomez’s registration was altered to make it look like it was Alberto, who they knew wasn’t a registered player, and falsely attempting to apportion the blame on the Banjul Regional Football Association.
Thus, in accordance with our Competition Rules and Code of Conduct, Young Africans FC is deducted three points and three goals and as well fined D1,000.00, with both decisions taking immediate effect. As a result of the forfeiture of the points in the said match, the three points and goals are now being awarded to the appellant, Baalor Sarr. As a consequent, Young Africans have lost their spot in the second division for the upcoming 2024/25 season, which will now instead be taken by Baalor Sarr.
The decision of the GFF Appeals Committee is final and binding on all the parties concerned. However, Young Africans have the right to appeal the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) if they aren’t satisfied with the ruling”.
