Pro League clear Fenwick.
By: Trinidad Express.
CL Financial San Juan Jabloteh coach Terry Fenwick has been cleared of all allegations made against him by Joe Public coach Michael McComie, who accused the Englishman of racial slurs after last month's Toyota Classic Final between the two T&T Pro League teams.
The disciplinary committee of the Pro League handed down its decision Saturday after rejecting McComie's request, through his attorney Nicole Basraj, for an adjournment of two more weeks.
The matter arose out of an alleged conflict following the Toyota Classic final on November 2, when McComie accused Fenwick of accosting him and making racist remarks, which McComie reported to match commissioner Norris Ferguson.
The report was subsequently passed onto the disciplinary committee of the T&T Pro League, who met with both Fenwick and McComie and their respective attorneys on November 9.
Fenwick's attorneys requested an adjournment to be provided with "the full disclosure of the allegations made against his client (Fenwick)", including the full particulars of what was actually said by McComie to Fenwick; the names of the witnesses that McComie intended to call; and a copy of the unedited tape of the Toyota Classic Final.
According to the Pro League, both parties agreed to one week, but the committee decided to give them three weeks so that proceedings would resume on December 1.
A Pro League release yesterday stated, however, that on December 1 McComie's attorney Basraj requested an additional two weeks, claiming she could not "have obtained detailed instructions from both McComie and the two witnesses who had time constraints due to crucial football matches within the past two weeks".
But the Pro League rejected the request, finding "no further adjournment was required".
After hearing the submissions by Fenwick's attorneys, they ruled that Fenwick was discharged from any further proceedings in the matter.
They advised further that such a decision, "however, was not based on the merits of the case, but due mainly to Mr McComie's unreadiness to proceed with such an important matter against Mr Fenwick".
They believed that sufficient time was given to McComie to be ready and to provide the necessary information to Fenwick and his attorney, "in an effort to provide his (Fenwick's) defence".
"To adjourn it any further would in fact be a travesty and indeed unfair to Mr Fenwick", the disciplinary committee concluded.
Joe Public wins feud with Jabloteh.
T&T Guardian Reports.[/size]
The T&T Pro League disciplinary committee met on Saturday morning at the League’s head office in Valpark to arbitrate the matter regarding Joe Public players Lyndon Andrews, Dale Saunders and Roen Nelson and ruled that no sanctions are to be imposed against the players.
An official complaint was made by CL Financial San Juan Jabloteh saying that the players verbally and physically assaulted coach Terry Fenwick following the ‘Eastern Lions’ 2-1 win over Jabloteh in the Toyota Classic final on November 2.
The disciplinary committee headed by attorney Dave Williams viewed video footage of the game, heard submissions from Joe Public’s attorney and its officials and found that the players mentioned did not verbally or physically assault Fenwick, the director of coaching for Jabloteh.
However, the committee reprimanded Joe Public for not preventing its players from entering the technical area of the opposing team and has warned that any future recurrence would result in punitive sanctions being imposed against the club.
The decision by the Pro League is expected to end the feud between the two teams for this season since they will not meet again on the field.
The quarrel began on November 2, after the end of the Toyota Classic final when Mc Comie accused Fenwick, a former England World Cup player of making racial slurs, but this matter was thrown out by the committee.
The Joe Public coach reported the incident to the match commissioner, Norris Ferguson, who reported the matter to the T&T Pro League.
In a two-page letter to Jabloteh, the T&T Pro League cleared Fenwick but pointed out that its decision was not based on the merits of the case but due mainly to Mc Comie’s unreadiness to proceed with the matter.
The letter went onto to explain that on November 9, the disciplinary committee of the T&T Pro League met to deliberate on allegations made by Mc Comie.
According to Mc Comie, after the Toyota Classic Final on November 2, he was accosted by Fenwick, who made certain racial comments to him and on that basis a report was made. When the parties appeared before the Disciplinary Committee on November 9, represented by their attorneys, Fenwick’s attorney requested a short adjournment in an effort to be provided with full disclosure on the allegations made against his client.
These particulars included the full particulars on what was actually told by Mc Comie to Fenwick; the names of the witnesses that Mc Comie intended to call and a copy of the unedited tape of the Toyota Classic Finals of November, 2.
Both parties agreed that one week would have been sufficient, however, the committee decided to give the parties three weeks adjourning the proceedings to December 1, at 10 am.
When the meeting resumed, the committee was presented with a letter from Mc Comie’s attorney Nicole Basraj, who requested a further adjournment of two weeks.
The league noted that the reason given for such request was because she (Basraj) could not have obtained detailed instructions from both Mc Comie and the two witnesses who had time constraints due to football commitments.
However, the members of the committee having considered attorney Basraj’s letter, found that no further adjournment was required.
The committee also heard submissions made by Fenwick attorney, and in the circumstances discharged Fenwick from any further proceedings in the matter.
This was because the committee believed that sufficient time was given to Mc Comie to be ready and provide the necessary information to Fenwick’s attorney, in an effort for him to provide his defence, and to adjourn the matter any further would in fact be a travesty and indeed unfair to Fenwick, ended the letter.
Jabloteh then made its complaint against the Joe Public who had its goalkeeper Alejandro Figueroa banned for two matches for his involvement in the incident.
