A four-man arbitration committee of the Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) upheld a ruling by its Disciplinary and Appeals Committees to strip St Benedict’s College of its Premier Division title for using striker Derrel Garcia, who was deemed to be improperly registered during the 2024 season.
The committee of William Wallace, chairman Anthony Creed, Ruben Hansraj, and Theophilus Trim heard arguments from principal Gregory Quan Kep, football team manager Ravi Ramgoolam, and their legal representative Christopher Brathwaite but concluded afterward that the school’s attendance record of Garcia was sufficient information to make a decision.
Two times before, the St Benedict’s trio appeared before the Disciplinary and Appeals Committees, contending that Garcia’s return to school after more than a year out of the school system and unknowing to the Ministry of Education was September 30. However, it appeared he did not attend classes until he was first picked up on the attendance register at school on October 8.
All three committees were made to follow the recommendations of the Ministry of Education, after an investigation was conducted after issues were raised about Garcia’s leave of absence to attend a football scholarship with a Spanish sports academy between September 2023 and July 2024.
Information about the player’s leave from the school and subsequent return was intercepted by a high-ranking Ministry of Education official, who ordered an investigation. According to the Ministry of Education, it did not receive any information about the player’s leave of absence from St Benedict’s College for the period in question.
A three-page report from the arbitration Friday revealed: “In the SSFL Constitution: Article 16 (i) Students must be duly registered according to the existing rules and regulations of the MOE (ii) Students must be on the official roll of the school (iii) Students must attend classes at the school during normal school hours.” Additionally, the legal opinion of Mr. Tyrone Marcus is that Garcia has satisfied 1 and 2 of the constitution based on the MOE letter dated December 9th, 2024. As a consequence, evidence needs to be established for (iii).”
It noted further: “Further findings by the Arbitration Committee from questions and documents: 1. Copy of the class register/roll signed and stamped by the Principal of St Benedict’s College and countersigned by the School Supervisor III, Mr Sheldon Jodha, that Garcia’s presence on the compound on September 30 is not captured in the class register, which is an official/legal document, as shown in the register with a line through the period absent up to October 7. Usually, when a student is attending school but is absent on any given day, a “0” is put in the column. The line is an indicator that the student was out for an extended period.
“The statement from the St Benedict’s College rep that Garcia was issued a player’s ID months in advance, which validated his status, may be erroneous since there is evidence that Garcia was issued an ID for the 2024 season on October 4, as shown in the WhatsApp exchanges between the office assistant at the SSFL office and Mr Ramgoolam.”
According to the four-man committee, it also encountered some critical observations that showed, “Principals are expected to contribute to the governance of the League. When the school registers a student to play in the League, there is an assumption that certain basic criteria, like attendance, which is controlled and monitored by the principal/his representative via an official document, are in order. There is no reason, therefore, to ask that all schools submit attendance registers unless it is required.
“(b) The issue of the school being singled out is not a fair assumption. An investigation in the League is triggered in various ways. In this case, the questions on Garcia’s status were in the public domain and therefore came to the attention of the League, and the question was, since Garcia was away from school for one academic year, whether the practiced protocol of reinstatement was followed.
“(c) As educators, we are familiar with the protocol to follow when a student is away from school for a term, and in Garcia’s case he was away for one academic year. It is therefore fair to surmise that this would have triggered the investigation.
“(d) It should be noted that Garcia’s mother, by her letter to the principal dated September 25 requesting his reinstatement, seems to be quite aware of the protocols.”
In drawing its conclusion, the report, which was signed by the committee chairman Creed, stated the Arbitration Committee unanimously supports the decision of the Disciplinary Committee and is endorsed by the Appeals Committee that St Benedict’s College was in breach of SSFL Constitution Article 16 with the registration of player Derrel Garcia, wherein the Article articulates ‘class attendance’ for the restart of classes at school for Garcia, which was on October 8, 2024.