DECISIONS OF THE APPEAL BOARD OF 7th NOVEMBER 2018

07 November 2018
06:47

On November 7, 2018, the Appeal Board of Confédération Africaine de Football held a meeting in order to decide on the appeal of the Federación Ecuatoguineana de Fútbol of the decision of the Disciplinary Council of September 8, 2018.


Regarding the eligibility protest against player Annette Jacky Messomo during the match no. 30 Equatorial Guinea vs Kenya played in the frame of the Total African Women’s Cup of Nations 2018, the Appeal Board decided as follows :



1. The appeal lodged by the Federación Ecuatoguineana de Fútbol is admissible;

2. The decision no 001-CAI-08.09.2018 is overruled;

3. The player Annette Jacky Messomo is eligible to play for the National Team of Equatorial Guinea;

4. The National Team of Equatorial Guinea is reintegrated in the Total African Women's Cup of Nations 2018.

Statement on CAF Appeals Board decision to reinstate Equatorial Guinea to the 2018 AWCON

November 8, 2018



We are profoundly astonished by the Appeal Board of Confédération Africaine de Football (CAF) decision to reinstate the Equatorial Guinea women football team to the 2018 Africa Women Cup of Nations, 10 days to the commencement of the tournament.

As Football Kenya Federation, it is our position that the decision by the CAF Appeals Board is a great injustice not only to the Kenya national women football team Harambee Starlets but also to the millions of Kenyan fans spread across the world, the Kenyan government and the federation, which has since dedicated enormous resources in preparations for the 2018 AWCON.

Moreover, the timing of the decision, which comes on the back of a FIFA ban on Equatorial Guinea for fielding ineligible players during the qualification competition for the Rio 2016 Olympic women’s tournament and CAF’s decision to include Kenya, for both the Draw of the 2019 Women World Cup and the recently released 2019 AWCON fixtures, is not only retrogressive but also goes against the spirit of fair play.

That notwithstanding, in our protest to CAF dated August 22, 2018 we stated and still have reasons to believe that one Annette Jacky Messomo is not eligible to play for the Equatorial Guinea women football team, as she is not a bonafide citizen of the country, having lived and played all her football in Cameroon and Europe.

This has not changed.

However, in light of the recent development and in the spirit of fair play we have been left with no option but to seek redress as per the statutes of CAF and FIFA, with the sole aim of promoting fairness and integrity of the sport.

Consequently, we have written to CAF expressing our displeasure with November 7, 2018, ruling and initiated an appeal process at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), with a view to having Kenya included in the tournament and/or stopping the same from commencing until the matter is heard and resolved.

It is our belief that both CAF and CAS will treat the matter with the seriousness that it deserves, this even as Harambee Starlets remain in camp in preparation for our AWCON opening fixture against Zambia scheduled for November 18, 2018, at the Cape Coast Stadium, beginning 1830hrs local time.

naptu2:
There is confusion about qualifications for the World Cup in France next year. The Nations Cup serves as the qualifiers for the World Cup. The top 3 teams at the Nations Cup will qualify for the World Cup. However, FIFA had banned Equatorial Guinea from the World Cup for fielding Annette Jacky Messomo in the game against Kenya, so what happens if Equatorial Guinea gets to one of the top 3 positions at the Nations Cup?

Statement on CAF Appeals Board decision to reinstate Equatorial Guinea to the 2018 AWCON

November 8, 2018



We are profoundly astonished by the Appeal Board of Confédération Africaine de Football (CAF) decision to reinstate the Equatorial Guinea women football team to the 2018 Africa Women Cup of Nations, 10 days to the commencement of the tournament.

As Football Kenya Federation, it is our position that the decision by the CAF Appeals Board is a great injustice not only to the Kenya national women football team Harambee Starlets but also to the millions of Kenyan fans spread across the world, the Kenyan government and the federation, which has since dedicated enormous resources in preparations for the 2018 AWCON.

Moreover, the timing of the decision, which comes on the back of a FIFA ban on Equatorial Guinea for fielding ineligible players during the qualification competition for the Rio 2016 Olympic women’s tournament and CAF’s decision to include Kenya, for both the Draw of the 2019 Women World Cup and the recently released 2019 AWCON fixtures, is not only retrogressive but also goes against the spirit of fair play.

That notwithstanding, in our protest to CAF dated August 22, 2018 we stated and still have reasons to believe that one Annette Jacky Messomo is not eligible to play for the Equatorial Guinea women football team, as she is not a bonafide citizen of the country, having lived and played all her football in Cameroon and Europe.

This has not changed.

However, in light of the recent development and in the spirit of fair play we have been left with no option but to seek redress as per the statutes of CAF and FIFA, with the sole aim of promoting fairness and integrity of the sport.

Consequently, we have written to CAF expressing our displeasure with November 7, 2018, ruling and initiated an appeal process at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), with a view to having Kenya included in the tournament and/or stopping the same from commencing until the matter is heard and resolved.

It is our belief that both CAF and CAS will treat the matter with the seriousness that it deserves, this even as Harambee Starlets remain in camp in preparation for our AWCON opening fixture against Zambia scheduled for November 18, 2018, at the Cape Coast Stadium, beginning 1830hrs local time.

naptu2:
CAF have reinstated Equatorial Guinea to the 2018 African Women’s Nations Cup, which will hold in Ghana later this month. Equatorial Guinea had initially been banned by CAF after Kenya protested the inclusion of Annette Jacky Messomo in the Equatorial Guinean team that played against Kenya in the qualifiers.

Equatorial Guinea has been infamous for fielding Nigerians, Cameroonians, Brazilians Ghanaians, Burkinabes and even men in their female national team. They were banned from participating in the last Nations Cup because they fielded an ineligible player in the qualifiers.

The most infamous case of cheating by the Equato-Guineans was the case of the Simpore “Sisters”, Salimata and Bilguisa. Nigerian, Ghanaian and South African players at the 2010 African Championships complained that the Simpore Sisters were actually men. A journalist conducted an investigation into the matter and he discovered that the sisters were actually boys from Burkina Faso who had played in a regional tournament in their home country. Equatorial Guinea hired a Brazilian coach ahead of the 2011 World Cup and he refused to include the sisters in his team. He later confessed, after leaving the job, that the sisters were actually men.

Annette Jacky Messomo is a Cameroonian and she was in the Cameroonian team to the 2014 Nations Cup, although she did not play a single game. She started playing for Equatorial Guinea in 2016 and she played for them against Kenya in the Nations Cup qualifiers. Kenya protested her inclusion in the team (stating that she had not been cleared to play for Equatorial Guinea) and CAF consequently banned Equatorial Guinea from the Nations Cup. However, in the past week, the Kenyans have been complaining that they don't have enough money to send their team to Ghana and the CAF appeals committee has now reinstated Equatorial Guinea to the Nations Cup. This means that Kenya is out of the Nations Cup.

Equatorial Guinea beat Nigeria in the semi-final of 2008 African Women’s Championships, the first team to have ever achieved the feat. They are also the only other team, apart from Nigeria, to have won the championship. They beat South Africa in the finals of the 2008 and 2012 championships. However, Nigeria defeated Equatorial Guinea in the final of the 2010 edition of the competition.

Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia and Equatorial Guinea are drawn in the same group in the 2018 Nations Cup.

The president of the Football Kenya Federation has vowed to proceed to the Court of Arbitration for Sports if Kenya is excluded from the Nations Cup




http://www.cafonline.com/en-US/NewsCenter/News/NewsDetails?id=Qv%2BEuYC0pxaO9uLG%2BRhVRg%3D%3D&utm_source=&utm_medium=twitter

Pic 1) Salimata Simpore

2) Bilguisa Simpore

3) Annette Jacky Messomo

Ojukwubucket:

[s]Equatorial Guinea beat Nigeria in the semi-final of 2008 African Women’s Championships, the first team to have ever achieved the feat.[/s]
Ghana female team were the first to ever beat Nigeria in the awcon ...I think 2004 edition in the group stage.

naptu2:
Equatorial Guinea's bad reputation had a negative effect on their star player, Genoveva Anonma Nze. Nigerian and South African players at the 2010 African championships accused her of being a man. She was almost in tears during a BBC interview in which she revealed that she had to strip naked before officials in order to prove that she was actually a woman.


Genoveva was the 2012 African player of the year and she also played for Atletico Madrid in 2016 and 2017. She is the captain of the Equatorial Guinean team.

naptu2:


Equatorial Guinea are the first team to beat Nigeria in the final of the Nations Cup (they are also the only other country to win the competition).

naptu2:
There is confusion about qualifications for the World Cup in France next year. The Nations Cup serves as the qualifiers for the World Cup. The top 3 teams at the Nations Cup will qualify for the World Cup. However, FIFA had banned Equatorial Guinea from the World Cup for fielding ineligible players in the qualifiers for the 2016 Olympic Games, so what happens if Equatorial Guinea gets to one of the top 3 positions at the Nations Cup?





http://footballkenya.org/statement-caf-appeals-board-equatorial-guinea/

toscolee:


I thought FIFA doesn't recognize football at the Olympics