PRESENTATION College (San Fernando) are calling for, three points deducted from them in a clash with Naparima College in the Secondary Schools Football League earlier this year, to be given back to them.
A protest was lodged against the school (Pres) for the use of a player, on a ban, for receiving two yellows cards against Naparima College in September. Yesterday in an interview school principal Errol Jaikaransingh said while they accepted blame for using a banned player, the league was partly responsible for the error.
According to Jaikaransingh “We were of the view that a player needed three yellow cards to miss a game and usually the school would have received notification of any penalty from the league. That did not happen.”
“Pres” will face Pleasantville Secondary in their final match of the South Zone today at the Manny Ramjohn Stadium needing a win to secure the title. They are on 25 points with just a game in hand, while second place Chiva Boys High School are close on their heels with 23 points and two games in hand.
Jaikaransingh also explained that there are areas of concern for his footballers. “The first thing is that the protest was not made by Naparima College but by league secretary Gerard Elliot. The protest was also made outside of the mandatory seven days given to lodge complaints.”
The matter had been sent to the Disciplinary Committee and later the Appeals Committee of the SSFL. Jaikaransingh also expressed concern that Elliot was a member of the tribunal that decided on the matter, while the appeals committee later ruled that there was a level of bias in the decision of the tribunal.
The “Pres” boss is seeking to ascertain why they haven’t received the three points following the ruling.
Despite winning the game 3-1 they had the win taken away from them as well as three points which will be crucial if they are to be declared winners of the south zone.
“Why wasn’t correspondence given to Elliot and other members of the league so that we will get our points back” Jaikaransingh said. A win for ‘Pres’ today will see them move to 28 points while Chiva Boys could move to 29 should they win their other two games.
Meanwhile Elliot said a new committee has been selected and it will deal with the matter on Monday at Queen’s Royal College (QRC). The committee comprises the vice principals of both QRC and Mucurapo East Secondary with a third person to be chosen today .
The SSFL secretary also dismissed claims that the protest was lodged outside the mandatory seven days period, saying “The constitution does not state clearly (at) what point protests are to be made. It does not say if it is from the point of the incident or from any other point.”
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