CAS dismiss OFC appeal: Solomons are going to Brazil
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has rejected the OFC appeal on the case involving Chris Satu. That means that the Solomon Islands U17 team can finally breathe a sigh of relief.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has rejected the OFC appeal on the case involving Chris Satu. That means that the Solomon Islands U17 team can finally breathe a sigh of relief.
The news was confirmed Thursday.
The conflict stood that the Solomon Islands had used an overage player in the 2018 OFC U16 Championship, Chris Satu, where they qualified for the FIFA U17 World Cup in Brazil later this year.
- READ MORE: Solomon Islands disqualified from the OFC U16 Championship – Out of the World Cup
- READ MORE: Solomon Islands appeal upheld – They are going to the World Cup
- READ MORE: OFC appeal Solomons decision to CAS
The Solomon Islands were first disqualified, but were later reinstated by the OFC Appeals Committee.
The OFC did not like the decision of the independent Appeals Committee and decided to sue themselves and take the matter to CAS.
CAS has now thrown the case out and ruled in favour of the Appeals Committee decision.
“OFC, Fiji Football Association and Federation Tahitienne de Football appeal against the decision of the Appeal Committee of the OFC rendered on 3 May 2019 by which it overturned the decision of the OFC Disciplinary Committee rendered on 15 January 2019 that Chris Satu who represented the Solomon Islands in the OFC U-16 Championship 2018 held in Honiara in September 2018 was ineligible to do so because he was over-age.
Thus, after a lengthy deliberation of the case, the Court of Arbitration for Sport rules that:
1. The appeal filed by Oceania Football Confederation Incorporated, Fiji Football Association and Fédération Tahitienne de Football is dismissed.
2. The decision of the Oceania Football Confederation Incorporated Appeal Committee dated 31 May 2019 is confirmed,” the CAS statement read, as referred by the Solomon Islands Football Federation.
“Effectively, CAS has upheld the decision by the OFC Appeals Committee. In effect, our participation at the upcoming Under 17 World Cup in Brazil remains intact,” SIFF’s lawyer Don Marahare told the SIFF website.
“I wish to take this opportunity to thank you all for the assistance rendered to me and my firm in representing SIFF at the CAS level. I wish our U17 boys best of luck at the World Cup.”
The U17 World Cup in Brazil will be held from 26th October – 17th November. The Solomons are in Group F with Italy, Paraguay and Mexico.
