Despite submitting a complaint more than three weeks ago against St. Vincent and the Grenadines for allegedly fielding an ineligible player during their 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, the GFF is still awaiting a decision from the world body on the matter.
Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Director of Marketing and Communication Rawle Toney during an invited comment said that while FIFA has responded to the GFF on the issue, they are yet to make a decision as “they are still investigating the claims that were made”.
However according to sources close to the federation, the reason why FIFA has not made a pronouncement on the matter is allegedly due to the Vincentians requesting an investigation into the competitive eligibility of the English-born players that featured for Guyana during the second leg.
Asked if the federation is aware of such a request by their Caribbean Football Union (CFU) rival, Toney said “No, the GFF can’t say if St Vincent and the Grenadines lodged any complaint of any kind to FIFA”.
He further said “However, FIFA had requested birth certificates and documents that shows `clear connection’ to Guyana from the four overseas based players; meaning proof of grandparents being Guyanese which the GFF already provided”.
Guyana officially filed a complaint against the Vincentians for allegedly fielding an eligible player after suffering a first round elimination via the away goal rule. The two-legged affair finished 6-6 on aggregate following a 4-4 draw at the National Stadium on June 14th.
In the opening leg at the Arnos Vale Stadium, Guyana and the Vincentians battled to a 2-2 stalemate. Guyana were eliminated on the away goals rule after the visitors scored four goals away from home compared to the Golden Jaguar’s two away goals.
According to earlier information emanating from the GFF, the contentious Vincentian player is allegedly forward Garvin James. James, who is English by birth is not a holder of a Vincentian passport and as such, violated FIFA’s regulation regarding eligibility of individuals.
FIFA’s rules for the 2018 World Cup states that passports are the only official documentation that can prove a competing player’s nationality. Due to this regulation, the GFF had written to FIFA regarding the matter following their elimination.
If Guyana is successful in their appeal, the result will be reversed to a 3-0 victory and a fine will be imposed on the Vincentians. It would also translate to Guyana automatically qualifying for the next round of the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers.
In a situation similar to Guyana’s, CFU rival Barbados was kicked out of the World Cup Qualifiers by FIFA after it was found that they fielded an ineligible player against Aruba.
The ineligible player was Hadan Holligan who received two yellow cards in two previous matches and was slated to serve a one game suspension. However Holligan took the field in their second leg against Aruba and scored in the process.
Barbados initially prevailed over Aruba 3-2 on aggregate but was disqualified and asked to pay a fine of US$6470 following the conclusion of the investigation.
Thus Aruba earned a 3-0 victory and will progress to the next round of the qualifiers which is the 12-team third-round of CONCACAF qualifying slated to be played between August 31st and September 8th.
