The Guyana Football Federation (GFF) has launched an investigation into the reasons surrounding Pele FC walking out of their Stag Beer Elite League fixture against Alpha United on Wednesday at the Leonora Sports Facility.
According to a release from the GFF “The … match has been awarded to Alpha United as a result of Pele’s refusal to continue the game in the 27th minute when a second member of Pele was red carded. An investigation has commenced into the on-field incident thus more details will be released following the conclusion of the same”.
In an invited comment, GFF Director of Competitions Ian Alves told Stabroek News “The matter is being deliberated upon and a pronouncement will be made”. However according to sources close to the federation, the matter is expected to be brought before the disciplinary committee, with sanctions likely to be meted out to the club and the individual players.
This is the third red card for Gregory Richardson in the league and the second incident involving him using abusive language to an official.
The sources further said that the veteran forward who was made captain upon his return to the national setup, was given a warning letter for his conduct following a disciplinary hearing after the first incident involving the verbal abuse of an official.
Efforts to contact members of the Pele FC management for a comment proved futile. The abandonment occurred with the score locked 2-0 in favour of Alpha United.
Following a foul outside the centre of the semicircle, Golden Jaguar International Richardson was shown a red card for using abusive language towards the official in a complaint over the distance of the wall marked from the infraction.
Chaos then ensued as Daniel Wilson scored from the spot-kick to make it 2-0, with protests coming in every direction from the Pele players who surrounded the official. Omallo Williams was then issued a red card moments later before the restart of the contest for using abusive language to the referee.
It was at this moment that Pele left the playing area in protest. Despite the attempts of the match commissioner to appease the situation, Pele refused to take the playing area and the match was subsequently abandoned following discussions with the match commissioner and the Director of Competitions, Alves.
Prior to the end, Alpha United took the lead in the 19th minute via an own goal.
Meanwhile, in the opening fixture, leader Slingerz FC downed Buxton United by a 3-1 margin. Trayon Bobb recorded a double in the 37th and 45th+1 minute while Domini Garnett scored a solitary strike in the 75th minute.
On target in the loss was Rondell Assanah in the 38th minute. Action in the event is slated to continue on Sunday at the same venue with another doubleheader. In the opening fixture, Alpha United will tackle Buxton United from 19:00hrs while Monedderlust will oppose Slingerz from 21:00hrs.
Winner of the League Finale round will pocket $4,000,000 while the second, third and fourth- place teams will collect $2,000,000, $1,000,000 and $500,000 respectively. Similarly, the points leader prior to the knockout stage will pocket an additional $1,000,000.
The season champion will then be crowned when the winner of the League Genesis and League Finale respectively face off in a single matchup. That winner will then earn an automatic berth at the CFU level.
If the winner of the League Genesis and League Finale rounds are the same team, they will earn the automatic CFU spot, with the second berth going to the team with the most accumulated points in both rounds non-inclusive of the eventual season champion.
