Diafra Sakho Injustice

Injustice 

noun

1. an unjust act

2. the practice of being unjust or unfair

FA Cup 4th Round - Bristol City v West Ham United

On Saturday 25th January 2015, Bristol City of League 1 (third tier of the English Football League)

Diafra Sakho Scores v Bristol City
 FA Cup 4th Round

hosted West Ham United of the Premier League (top tier of the English Football League) in the fourth round of the FA Cup. The score stood at 0 - 0 in the 57th minute when West Ham made a substitution, bringing on Diafra Sakho as a replacement for Enner Valencia. The game progressed and the score remained goalless until the 81st minute when Diafra Sakho rose in the box to head home a cross from Andy Carroll. With the score at 0 - 1, the Hammers held on to win the match and progress to the fifth round of the knockout competition. A not too unremarkable story with the possibly expected result of a Top Flight team beating one from the lower leagues.

No doubt, the Bristol City fans went home slightly disgruntled that their team had been narrowly beaten, but happy that they had made a good fist of it, holding a Premier League team to 0 - 0 until late in the game. However, the fallout from that goal not only affects the Robins of Bristol, but also has deep ramifications for the rest of the footballing world.

FIFA's Rules & Regulations

FIFA Regulations for the
Status and Transfer Of Players

FIFA, the international organisation responsible for the governance of the game of football throughout the world, has, as would befit the status of a world governing body, many rules and regulations with which it controls the sport. From the dimensions of the pitch, to how the game is played, to how national associations conduct themselves, each and every aspect of how the sport of football is run is covered. Given that the players themselves are probably the most important element of the game, there are certain regulations which control their role in the game. One of these sets of regulations is "Regulations for the Status and Transfer of Players". The rationale behind this document is self-evident from the title  and the directives contained therein are very specific on the contractual obligations of clubs and national associations on how they deal with players:

There are now many international competitions in which national teams compete. The World Cup, The European Championships, The Asian Cup, The Africa Cup of Nations, etc. are regular tournaments involving national teams from around the world. Players are called up for international duty by their national associations and the regulations quoted above place obligations on football clubs on the release of players in order to compete in these contests. In the FIFA document "Commentary on the Regulations for the Status and Transfer of Players", Annexe 1 clarifies the clubs' obligations:

In other words, if a player is called up to play in an international tournament, a club MUST release that player. This is further clarified in the "Regulations for the Status and Transfer of Players":

The player is prohibited from playing for his club during the time of release for international duty; this is detailed in Annexe 1, Article 5 of the Regulations, Restrictions on Playing:

Failure to comply with these regulations will result in disciplinary sanctions on the club and player as set down in Annexe 1, Article 6:

The above is unequivocal in that a club is obliged to release a player for international duty. Failure to do so will ensure that a player is ineligible to play for their club during the timeframe of the release; if he plays for his club in that time, the club shall lose any points gained or lose a cup match by default.

Diafra Sakho

The West Ham United player, Diafra Sakho, was called up for international duty at the Africa Cup of Nations by Senegal on 18th December 2014. On 7th January 2015, twelve days before the tournament started, Sakho withdrew from Senegal's squad citing a back injury. Under the regulations discussed above, this would mean that, for the duration of Senegal's involvement in the Africa Cup of Nations, Sakho could not play for the Hammers. With Senegal knocked out of the tournament on 27th January, Sakho should not have been selected to play for West Ham in any capacity up to that date...but he was.

The teamsheet had Sakho chosen as a substitute for the Premier League team to play in the fourth round of the FA Cup on 25th January 2015 at Ashton Gate. In the 81st minute, he leaped like a gazelle, headed the ball goalwards, landed on one foot and wheeled away to celebrate scoring the winner.

Anyone who has ever hurt their back knows to complete such a feat would have had such a jarring force on their body that the pain would have been excruciating. Back injury! What back injury?

FIFA Sanctions

Quite rightly, Bristol City called "foul" and complained that, due to FIFA's own rules and regulations, West Ham United should not have fielded Diafra Sakho in any capacity for their 4th round FA Cup tie. Furthermore, the Premier League side should be made to forfeit the match, allowing the League 1 side to compete in the next round. This complaint was heard by FIFA who, having carefully given the Bristol City argument some cogitation, went totally against the organisation's own reasoning and imposed a fine on West Ham United and allowed the result to stand. This fine was for the sum of £71,000, a relatively paltry amount in the face of the sums of money most Premier League clubs have at their disposal; when one considers the fact that west Ham were awarded £90,000 in prize money for winning the game, the club is still £19,000 up on the deal.

Ramifications

The point at issue here is that, despite FIFA's rules and regulations being explicit in how the game of football should be governed throughout the world, when it comes to administering justice, FIFA baulks at enforcing its own laws. Would the verdict and punishment have been different if it had been Bristol City, the lower league club, which had broken the rules? As a Swindon Town fan of some years longstanding, I could point to injustice inflicted on my club with the punishment meted out for flouting FA financial rules disproportionate compared to the Top Flight teams caught doing the same (see Financial Irregularities). Therefore, I think the answer to the question posed previously would probably be "yes". 

I have heard from Bristol City fans who would rather not be given the chance to continue to compete in the FA Cup and prefer for their team to concentrate on the league. With both our West Country clubs chasing for promotion from League 1, I can understand the sentiment behind this thought. However, the thin end of the wedge is on display here and if Bristol City, do not appeal FIFA's ruling, such injustice will continue to be the norm when the decision is between a Premier League club and one from the lower leagues.