Liberia: County Meet Wahala Continues As Grand Bassa Players Walk Off Playing Pitch - FrontPageAfrica

Source: Front Page Africa
Author: Christopher C. Walker

Monrovia - The 2023-2024 National County Sports Meet third-place football match between Nimba and Grand Bassa ended prematurely on Saturday, May 4, 2024, after Bassa players contested a penalty awarded to Grand Bassa County.

By: Christopher C Walker [email protected] 0886723075/0777898224

Earlier, Grand Bassa County took the lead in the first half of the match, with Theophilus Williams scoring from close range. Nimba looked second best in the match, as Bassa controlled possession throughout the first half, which ended 1-0 in Bassa's favor.

Coming back from the break, Nimba mounted pressure on Bassa, and it paid off when Josiah Cea was brought down in the box by a Bassa defender. Cea overtook him for a through ball, and there was contact with his legs and hand on the Nimba captain, who went down to the ground.

Initially, central referee Moses Forkpa didn't seem interested in awarding the penalty, but his assistant referee number one saw the foul and waved his flag for the penalty. Forkpa awarded the penalty, which resulted in protests from the Bassa players and their technical staff.

In an unprofessional move, the Bassa technical staff demanded that their players leave the pitch because they felt the penalty was unfairly given. The Bassa players wanted to continue the match, but they were forced by their technical staff to leave the pitch, and they left the playing pitch with 30 minutes left in the match.

Despite several attempts from the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the match officials to persuade the Bassa players to return to the match and continue, they refused to resume, forcing the match officials to end the game and award the points to Nimba County. Nimba County received a cash prize of fifty thousand Liberian dollars as the third-place winner.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Youth and Sports fined Grand Bassa US$2,500.00 following the county's refusal to continue Saturday's third-place match against Nimba County.

The NCSM Steering Committee, in a statement signed by its Chairman, Cole Bangalu, said Bassa's action violated article 21.2 of the rules and regulations governing the county meet.

Article 21.2 states, "Any county which refuses to play or withdraws from a scheduled game without the consent of the Organizing Committee shall be fined Two Thousand Five Hundred United States Dollars (US$2,500.00) to be deducted from the county's next year preparatory funds, in addition to forfeiture of the match."

Grand Bassa Team manager, Ezekiel Johnson, Administrative Assistant, Victoria Geeplay, and Philip Kangar, a member of the Bassa Sports Steering Committee, were also suspended from all MYS organized activities for two years.

According to the statement, the trio incited and instigated the refusal and 'unprofessional' behavior of the Bassa Football Team.

It can be recalled that in 2019, Nimba County walked out of the pitch during a grand final game against Grand Kru, and Grand Kru was crowned the champions in that edition of the National County Sports Meet.

Meanwhile, in the Kickball third-place match, Lofa County beat Bomi County 4-2 to win the third-place title.