THE Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) has denied the Guyana Football Federation’s (GFF) appeal against the Disciplinary Committee’s ruling that no further action would be taken against the St Vincent and the Grenadines Football Federation (SVGFF) for allegedly fielding an ineligible player during World Cup 2018 qualification matches.The world’s governing body for football cited its decision on technical and procedural grounds reiterating that Guyana was not “a party to the relevant proceedings before the FIFA Disciplinary Committee and would therefore not be eligible to appeal”.
FIFA further added that an appeal was lodged against a letter issued on July 29 by the FIFA Disciplinary Committee and not against a decision of the Committee.
In responding to the protest filed by the GFF over the playing of Garvin James by the SVGFF on June 14, 2015 at the Guyana National Stadium, FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee ruled that “after careful examination of all the requested information and documentation, it was considered that no further intervention was necessary in such context”.
The GFF on June 16 had requested FIFA’s investigation and adjudication on a possible violation of the FIFA rules by the SVGFF for fielding a player not in possession of a St Vincent & the Grenadines passport during the World Cup Qualification match on June 14, 2015 at the Guyana National Stadium.
Garvin James is the holder of British passport number 523204951. He is eligible to represent St Vincent and the Grenadines as per FIFA Statutes, but according to the Regulations governing the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, to do such, James would have had to be the holder of a Vincentian passport.
The GFF in a release said that they will explore all options on how to proceed with the matter and is currently seeking legal guidance.