Division One League: Young Apostle, 2 others qualify for Premier League
Young Apostle, Basake Holy Stars and Vision FC have earned their places to the top flight football league for the upcoming season.
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Today, June 4, Young Apostle secured the last spot from the lower tier after winning 4-3 on penalties in their play-off against Techiman Heroes at the Accra Stadium after playing 1-1 in regulation time. Thirty minutes of extra time failed to produce a winner for Zone 1.
Basake Holy Stars' promotion was confirmed following a successful protest with the Disciplinary Committee against Sefwi All Stars, resulting in a critical point deduction for the latter.
Controversy
The controversy centered around a Division One League (DOL) Zone 2 match at Sefwi Asafo Ramos Park. Basake Holy Stars accused Sefwi All Stars of deliberately causing an abrupt halt to the game through disruptive actions by their fans and officials.
The game was interrupted twice, once at the 22nd minute and again at the 31st minute, resulting in the the match being halted for a total of 12 minutes.
Holy Stars claimed that the assistant referees were pelted with sachet water and other objects, rendering one unable to continue officiating the match.
Sefwi All Stars, however, contended that the match officials refused to come out for the second half despite the first half ending incident free.
Disciplinary Committee decision
The Disciplinary Committee, after reviewing the match footage and reports from the match commissioner and referee, concluded that Sefwi All Stars had indeed violated Article 33(1)(b) of the regulations.
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As a result, the committee dismissed Sefwi All Stars' counterclaims and ruled in favour of Basake Holy Stars.
With this ruling, Holy Stars now boast 56 points, five points clear of their closest rivals, New Edubiase, securing top finish and promotion to the elite league next season.
In a parallel achievement, Vision FC clinched their promotion with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Uncle T United last Sunday. This win ensured that they topped Zone 3, marking a historic debut qualification to the top flight league for the club.