NFA expressed Dismay at CAS dismissal
The Namibia Football Association has expressed their dismay at the latest ruling in their case by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) which dismissed the appeal of the NFA against CAF.
On Tuesday 10 January 2012, the CAS rendered its decision in the arbitration between the Namibia Football Association and the Confederation African de Football (CAF): the CAS has dismissed the appeal of the Namibia FA and has confirmed the decision of the CAF Appeal Board dated 24 November 2011 and stated that the final award with reasons will be issued by the CAS in a few weeks.
“We are disappointed and we don’t know how they have reached at this decision to dismiss our case but we will accept the decision and move on and plan forward”, NFA Secretary General, Barry Rukoro, who also attended the hearing on Friday in Lausanne, Switzerland said.
The CAS states that Hervé Zengue was born in Cameroon and took a residency in Burkina Faso in 1994; he got a Burkinabe nationality certificate on 14 September 2006. And on 25 March 2011, the player received a five-year passport from Burkina Faso.
Hervé played against Namibia on 26 March 2011 and on 4 June 2011 in the 2012 AFCON qualifiers , with Burkina Faso wining both matches.
Before the second match Namibia-Burkina Faso, the Namibia FA put forward that the player Hervé Zengue was ineligible to participate in that match and filed a protest.
On 28 October 2011, the Bureau of the Africa Cup of Nations Committee rejected the protest of the Namibia FA regarding the ineligibility of the player Hervé Zengue on the grounds that the protest letter failed to comply with Article 37.1 of the Regulations of the CAN 2012.
The Namibia FA filed an appeal to the CAF Appeal Board which was heard on 15 November 2011 and on 24 November 2011; the CAF Appeal Board rendered its decision which concluded.
"To declare invalid the protest submitted by the Namibia Football Association concerning the non-respect of the requirements stipulated by Article 37 of the 2012 CAN Regulations."
The Namibia FA filed its appeal at the CAS on 6 December 2011 and the CAS conducted an expedited procedure and heard the parties at a hearing on 6 January 2012.