Bechem Utd to challenge GFA fine
Bechem United are prepared to go the full legal haul to ensure justice after they were slapped with a GH¢105,000 fine by the Disciplinary Committee of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) for stopping StarTimes from telecasting their Premier League match against Great Olympics in Bechem a couple of months ago.
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According to the chairman of Bechem United, Kingsley Osei Bonsu, popularly known as Lord Zico, the club’s lawyer, Larbi Amoah, was studying the ruling after which they would file an appeal before next Tuesday.
Bonsu, who spoke to the Graphic Sports in an interview yesterday, described the verdict by the Disciplinary Committee as unfair because the club had nothing to do with StarTimes’ inability to cover the said game.
He accused the television broadcast company of failing to attend the pre-match meeting, hence their failure to find solutions to the club’s concerns before the game.
“I don’t know the sort of documents they have in their possession that led to that particular decision because, as far as I know, this StarTimes people did not attend the pre-match technical meeting.”
The chairman stressed that they did not also prevent the OB van of StarTimes from entering the stadium but rather recounted how a broken down truck blocked the access way, making it difficult for the van to enter the stadium.
“I even suggested that if the truck would cause a problem for them, they should use an alternative route but they refused,” Zico recalled and added that a landlady in an adjacent house even agreed to offer her premises for the van to park but the crew refused.
He, therefore, denied allegations that the club prevented the television crew from entering the stadium, as well as the accusation of putting the truck there to impede the van from accessing the stadium.
Last Wednesday, the GFA Disciplinary Committee imposed a GH¢105,000 fine on the Bechem-based club after they were found guilty of misconduct during their Premier League game against Olympics last season.