Referee Kakabo Mensah to forfeit officiating fee for Okwahu United, Sporting Mirren match

The GFA Disciplinary Committee has asked Referee R.T. Kakabo Mensah to forfeit the amount due him as his officiating fee for the match between Okwahu United and Sporting Mirren played at Nkawkaw.

Referee R.T. Kakabo Mensah was charged for failing to send a complete Referee’s Report to the GFA and in particular for failing to write the expulsion of Timothy Debrah (player of Sporting Mirren) which resulted in confusion in the Division One League records and its use by the various clubs and the Committees of the GFA in violation of Articles 22(1)(a), 22(2), 35(7)(a) and 35(7)(d) of the GFA General Regulations.

DEFENCE
Referee R.T. Kakabo Mensah in his Statement of Defence pleaded not guilty to the charge.

PROCEEDINGS AND FINDINGS
The Committee examined the depositions in the Charge Sheet, the Statement of Defence and the reports of the match officials of the match.

In his defence, Referee R.T. Kakabo Mensah stated that:

“… in the process of sending the match report I inadvertently posted an incomplete report and left the completed one behind which was not supposed to be so. Upon noticing that, I followed it up with the completed one to your office. I was therefore surprised to see a post in relation to this matter”.

The Committee finds that Referee R.T. Kakabo Mensah indeed sent the corrected and completed referee’s report to the GFA. However, the completed Referee’s Match Report reached the GFA outside the mandated 48 hours’ time limit. The Disciplinary Committee was satisfied with the evidence before it that Referee R.T. Kakabo Mensah sent the completed referee’s report after the 48 hours from the end of the match in breach of the GFA Regulations.

It is the position of the Committee that such delays must be immediately sanctioned administratively by the competition organising boards, in this instance, the Division One League Board, in accordance with Articles 35(15) and 22(2) of the General Regulations.

DECISION
The Disciplinary Committee makes the following decisions:

1. That for failing to send the completed Referee’s Report to the GFA within the stipulated time, Referee R.T. Kakabo Mensah shall suffer a forfeiture of the amount due him as his officiating fee for the match in question and shall refund the amount within fourteen (14) days if the amount has already been paid to him failing which he shall be banned for one (1) month in accordance with Articles 39(1) and 22(2) of the General Regulations of the GFA.

2. That should Referee R.T. Kakabo Mensah be dissatisfied with or aggrieved by this Decision he has within three (3) days of being notified of this Decision to appeal to the Appeals Committee. (See Article 37(11) of the General Regulations of the GFA).