St Benedict's Derrel Garcia appeal to be heard on January 7

Reigning Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) national intercol winners St Benedict’s College will have their date in the SSFL’s boardroom on January 7, when the league’s appeals committee hears their case in the matter involving star striker Derrel Garcia.

Benedict’s had a 15-game unbeaten run to the SSFL’s premier division summit for the 2024 season to end on 41 points, but on December 30, 2024, the SSFL stripped Benedict’s of their league title after handing the south school a 12-point deduction for their use of Garcia. The deduction saw Benedict’s slipping to fourth spot with 29 points, with Fatima College rising to the premier division’s summit with 38 points.

After the SSFL disciplinary committee’s ruling, Benedict’s principal Gregory Quan Kep indicated the school had planned to appeal. Quan Kep said that Benedict’s lodged their appeal on the deadline day of January 3, with SSFL president Merere Gonzales confirming that an appeal was made by the “La Romaine Lions.”

On January 2, Fatima manager Stephen Williams told Newsday that he and his players didn’t know if to celebrate as they were aware Benedict’s were well within their right to appeal.

While Williams said clinching back-to-back premier division titles was a great achievement, he said it couldn’t match the euphoria of being crowned champions in the season. From Benedict’s point of view, Quan Kep feels as though too much on the case has already been ventilated in the public domain, and he opted not to comment further on the matter. He declined to comment on the possible strengths of Benedict’s appeal.

In a couple of days, a three-man SSFL appeals committee will rule on the fate of Garcia and Benedict’s in a case that grabbed many headlines in the 2024 season.

The 17-year-old Garcia was the top-scorer in the SSFL season, and even scored a brace to lead Benedict’s to the national intercol title in their battle with Fatima on December 5. On October 8, Garcia resumed classes at Benedict’s after missing an entire school year due to an overseas stint with CF Intercity International Academy in Spain.

However, Benedict’s were punished for the three games Garcia featured in prior to his resumption of classes, to go along with an October 9 meeting with Queen’s Royal College.