The ambitions of Tema Youth of staying in the premiership died last Friday after the Review Committee of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) dismissed their case regarding the eligibility of Emmanuel Clottey.
Clottey joined Tema Youth during the second half of the season after a loan stint with Danish side, Odense BK, but his registration was contested by Berekum Arsenal and Sekondi Eleven Wise, claiming the player had a running contract with his mother Club, Accra Great Olympics till August 2009.
The Tema-based Club had prayed with the Review Committee to overturn earlier decisions by the Disciplinary and Appeals Committees that saw them loss 12 points.
The loss of the 12 points ensured Tema Youth finished 15th on the 16-club standings of the Premier League on 34 points, subsequently relegated to the First Division with Gamba All Blacks, which finished 14th and Sporting Mirren, which occupied the bottom place.
According to the Committee chaired by Lawyer Emmanuel Effa Annan, the arguments of the Tema-based Club lacked substance to merit an overturn of the earlier decisions arrived at by the two other legislative bodies.
It therefore dismissed the case and also awarded a cost of 400 Ghana cedis against Tema Youth; 200 Ghana cedis each for the Clubs involved, Arsenal and Eleven Wise.
With visible dejection drawn over the faces of officials of Tema Youth, GNA Sports gathered that the Club was bent on seeking justice at the corridors of the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) after exhausting the legislative arms of the GFA.
Team Youth joined the elite division in 2007 and have over the years’ contributed to the beauty of the game especially at their home base where they gave stiff opposition to the major clubs of the League.
Source: GNA