BY JUMA ALI
Grace Church has been fined a sum of five hundred thousand shillings (500,000/=) by FUFA for failing to raise a minimum number of players required for a match to continue.
It has been established that on march 12, 2023, Grace Church fielded three players in a FUFA beach soccer league game against Jinja Lions BSC at FUFA technical centre beach soccer arena in Njeru.
The third player got injured leaving the team with only two players leading to the abandonment of the match.
FUFA’s Competitions Disciplinary Panel has ordered the team to pay the fine by March 30, 2023 to avoid further and stronger sanctions against the club.
It also said Grace Church lost the said match by forfeiture.
Below is the full statement as released by CDP on Thursday.
The CDP received a complaint arising from Match No. 36 of the 2023 Uganda Beach Soccer League Grace Church v Jinja Lions scheduled for the 12th of March 2023.
According to the match report, Grace Church started the match with three players.
The third player got injured leaving the team with only two players leading to the abandonment of the match.
Considerations of the Competitions Disciplinary Panel
1. First, the CDP considered the relevant Competition Rules and Regulations which provide that when the number of players of a team in a Competition match that are able to continue with play is less than the minimum because of injuries and other reasons yet substitutions have been exhausted or are not available causing match officials to terminate the match, that club shall be deemed to have lost the match by forfeiture or by the standing result of the match (whichever is sportingly better) to the opposing team unless a prudent justification can be determined by the judicial body.
2. The CDP upon analysis of the match report and evidence available established that Match No. 36 Grace Church V Jinja Lions on 12th March 2023 was abandoned in the first period as a result of Grace Church’s failure to raise the minimum number of players required for the match to proceed.
3. The CDP recalled as earlier indicated that as a consequence, failure to raise the minimum number of players for a match leading to its abandonment will result into loss of the match by forfeiture for the team that failed to raise the team.
Decision of the Competitions Disciplinary Panel
1. As a consequence of the above conclusions, Grace Church hereby loses the said match by forfeiture.
2. Grace Church is further sanctioned with a fine of UGX 500,000 (Five Hundred Thousand) to be paid to FUFA Account Number NO.7210000969 ECO BANK NDEEBA BRANCH within two weeks from the receipt of this decision (by 30th March, 2023).
3. The Club is ordered to adhere to this decision failure of which the CDP shall be constrained to take stronger disciplinary sanctions against the club.
Grace Church is among the sides that are yet to register any win FUFA Beach Soccer League this season, sitting ninth on table with one point after six matches.
