No statement yet from SSFL appeals committee on St Benedict's ruling

THE appeals committee of the Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) has not released a statement yet concerning the hearing involving St Benedict's College star striker Derrel Garcia.

The appeals committee was scheduled to hear the St Benedict's case on January 7.

"We have not gotten a report from the appeals committee as yet. As soon as we get a report from the appeals committee we will let everybody know," said SSFL president Merere Gonzales.

St Benedict's were initially crowned champions of the SSFL premiership division at the end of October. However, St Benedict's were stripped of the title on December 30 by the SSFL's disciplinary committee after it was discovered that Garcia was ineligible to play for four matches during the season.

As a result, 12 points were deducted from the St Benedict's points tally moving the "La Romaine Lions" down to fourth in the standings.

Fatima benefited and are now champions after initially finishing second.

Victories for St Benedict's against San Juan North Secondary, Fatima, St Anthony’s College and Queen's Royal College (QRC) were invalidated, and three points and three goals were awarded to the losing teams.

The new standings propelled second-placed Fatima (38 points) into first place, with Presentation College San Fernando (35 points) second, St Anthony’s (33 points) third and Benedict’s (29 points) fourth.

Garcia left St Benedict's to pursue an opportunity overseas, which led to an issue when he returned to Trinidad.

The disciplinary committee’s report said, “The hearing focused on Garcia’s return to school after spending time overseas for an internship programme. His school attendance as a St Benedict’s College student was disrupted for the period August 2023 to May 2024 when he went to pursue the internship programme with CF Intercity International Academy based in Alicante, Spain.”

The committee’s findings revealed that Garcia represented the school during the 2024 season before he attended classes at St Benedict’s.

It added, “On September 25, 2024, Derrel’s mother wrote to the principal of St Benedict’s College, Gregory Quan Kep, seeking Derrel’s reinstatement into the school, however, there was no evidence of a written response from principal Quan Kep to Miss Garcia’s letter. Nevertheless, attendance records from St Benedict’s College confirmed that Derrel’s first day attending classes for the September to December 2024 term, was Tuesday October 8, 2024.”

He was therefore ineligible to play against San Juan on October 2, Fatima on October 5, St Anthony's on October 7 and QRC on October 9. Although he started classes a day before the QRC contest, the rule states that a player must be a student for 72 hours before playing.