Ghana has notified the Confederation of African Football (Caf) of an intended appeal against the decision to fine $100,000 and ban the country from the qualifiers to the next two editions of the Fifa U-17 Women’s World Cup.
Caf imposed the sanction on the Black Maidens following a protest by Morocco prior to the kickoff of their ticket deciding second-leg in Rabat.
Backed with some evidence, the Moroccans alleged that two players – Nancy Amoh and Rasheeda Shahadu – had “falsified their birthdate information and are over the age of 17 and are therefore considered to be ineligible to play in the competition in question.”
Ghana failed to address the claims of discrepancies in the age of the players via a written response and left the Caf Disciplinary Board to exercise its discretion regarding proof by considering only Morocco’s evidence.
The Disciplinary Board went on to sanction Ghana and as well handed one-year bans from all Caf competitions to the two players.
U-17 WWCQ: Caf bans Ghana’s Black Maidens until 2027 for age fraud [+FULL RULING]
Acknowledging receipt of the July 3 ruling about 24 hours later, the Ghana Football Association (GFA), contrary to the 4-man Disciplinary Board’s claim, insisted on sending a “written defence to Caf which was not considered.”
Ghana had a 72-hour time limit from the notification of the ruling to announce its intention of appealing in writing and also a further 7-day window to file the reasons for the appeal.
In a statement via its website Wednesday night (July 6), the GFA announced taking the appeal action.
“Following the Decision of the Caf Disciplinary Committee, the GFA has today officially written to Caf to express its intentions to appeal against the Caf Disciplinary Decision to the Caf Appeals Board.
“The Ghana Football Association has expressed its readiness to contest the decision of the Caf Disciplinary Committee concerning two U17 players.
“As a result, the GFA has paid the relevant appeal filing fees in accordance with Article 58 of the Caf Disciplinary Code.
“The GFA will send the Statement of case of Appeal containing the reasons for the Appeal within the further seven (7) days allowed per Article 55 of the Caf Disciplinary Code,” the publication read.
Ghana will hope to succeed in overturning the ruling which will deny the Black Maidens a chance to compete for a slot at the 2024 and 2026 U-17 Women’s World Cup finals. As it stands, the team will return to participate in the African qualifiers to the 2028 edition which is likely to start in 2027.
