GFA’s new card for Sporting’s Mauvin Borges
TEAM HERALD
sports@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: While Sporting Clube de Goa found nothing amiss in signing Mauvin Borges stressing they had followed the correct procedure, Sesa Football Academy stressed that the issuance of a new card by GFA was in contravention of the GFA’s prevailing rules as the club stated that they had never issued a transfer certificate for the player.
The GFA had sought legal opinion and felt that the agreement that Mauvin’s father had signed with the academy, since he was a minor at the time some three years ago was not valid and moreover, Dr N N Bhatiker’s reply that the academy could not issue the NOC because of the internal agreement and found nothing wrong and that what Sporting had written was correct and as such issued a new card since Sporting had requested Sesa FC for a transfer certificate.
Sesa had pointed out that the player was holding the GFA Player’s Licence No 9244 and registered for Sesa FA, Sirsaim, and that the club had not written any official letter either to Sporting or GFA which ought to recognise only letters signed by its president Mukherjee and secretary Cyril Rodrigues and no one else including Dr Bhatiker, who is the administrator, since only two signatories are recognised by GFA. Several clubs were in agreement that the GFA always has been insisting on the accredited signatories always for official correspondence in the past and that even if the signatures did not tally, correspondence was not entertained. However, surprisingly, GFA stated that if someone else had signed Sesa’s letter it was the club’s internal problem and it is not for GFA to check it.
While the discussion on administrative matters could be more academic in nature, the most important aspect is the technical aspect governing rules on `transfer certificate’ under Article 9 of GFA rules and regulations.
It states: 1. A club may not refuse to issue a TC unless: a. The period of a contract with a non-amateur is still in force. B. The non-amateur player wishing to leave it has not fulfilled his obligations under the terms of his contract with his former club. C. In the case of a non-amateur player, there is a dispute other than that of a financial nature regarding the player’s transfer between the club he/she wishes to leave and the club which he/she wishes to join. D. The player has not returned equipment or money borrowed from the club.
Further is states: 2. The Players Status Committee of GFA or in the case of an appeal, the Appeals Committee may order a club to issue a TC or itself issue a document replacing such a certificate. In the case of the latter, the validity of the document may be expressly limited to a certain period. 3. If, after a period of 60 days from the date of request by the new club, the club which a player wishes to leave has not issued a TC or given a valid reason under Art 9.1, why it refuses to do so, the Players Status Committee may itself issue a provisional certificate to the player enabling him/her to the new club. 5. A player shall not under any circumstances be authorized to play in official matches for his/her new club during the 60-day period mentioned earlier. 6. Only the club for which the player wishes to play shall be entitled to request the necessary TC. 9. The player’s eligibility to play shall not be considered definitive until the valid TC has actually been received by GFA from the former’s club.
Consequently, Sesa FA has asked the GFA seeking its guidance about filing a protest or an appeal. Indications are there that an appeal would be lodged with Players Status Committee.
