Bassa Senator, Superintendent contemplate legal action for ‘questionable’ County Meet defeat to Nimba
By Olando Testimony Zeongar
GRAND BASSA COUNTY – Two leading officials of Grand Bassa County, Senator Nyonblee Karnga-Lawrence and Superintendent Janjay Baikpeh, are contemplating taking legal action for their county’s loss to Nimba County, in the football category of the ongoing National County Sports Meet (NCSM).
On Wednesday, Nimba flogged Bassa two goals to nil, at a jammed packed Samuel Kayon Doe Sports Complex, scoring a goal in each half, a defeat both Senator Karnga-Lawrence and Superintendent Baikpeh have deemed questionable, since the Liberia Football Association (LFA’s) Referee Standing Committee handed down a disciplinary action of three months suspension for bad officiating, against the central referee who officiated the Bassa versus Nimba match.
The LFA’s Referee Standing Committee announced Friday that it has suspended central referee Joe Macauley for three months according to what the Committee termed as a contradiction to Law 12 of the game of football, on the part of referee Macauley, which the Committed indicated caused serious embarrassment to both referees and the Organizing Committee after the NCSM semi-final clash between Grand Bassa and Nimba on Wednesday night.
The Committee further charged referee Macauley for wrongly waiving away a penalty appeal and booked Bassa forward James Tarpeh for simulation on the stroke of halftime when Nimba led one-nil.
Howbeit, Senator Karnga-Lawrence interprets referee Macauley’s suspension as being as a result of him cheating her native land, Grand Bassa County, which she said demoralized the players of Bassa and contributed to the Nimba 2-0 defeat.
She termed central referee Macauley’s action as being unfair, indicating that authorities of Bassa are consulting “Bassa lawyers,” for possible legal action.
The Superintendent of Bassa, Baikpeh concords with his Senator and disclosed that for this reason, there would be a writ of an injunction filed by Bassa County against the NCSM.
But many soccer pundits, in reaction to the Bassa officials’ assertions, have stated that in football, court action, as the one being contemplated by the pair, is unacceptable.
Others argued that what is acceptable in the game of football regarding referee Macauley’s action, is that the match official is usually penalized as is being done to Macauley by the LFA’s Referee Standing Committee, and the result of the game stands.
