The Liberia Football Association’s electoral dispute seems to be taking another trend as an aggrieved former Executive Committee Member; Rochell Woodson’s case has been given credence by the Court of Arbitrations for Sports, (CAS).
Madam Woodson, a former president of second division team Gardnerville FC said holding the Congress and election will be waste of finances, energy and time as CAS’s ruling will supersede the outcomes to those processes.
Speaking to State Radio World of Sports program Madam Woodson said though it is statutory to hold extra-ordinary congresses, stakeholders should know that there is a new development coming out of the Court of Arbitrations for Sports.
Madam Woodson who declared her intention to contest for the LFA Presidency, before staying away from the process said the process leading to the April 14 election and the election itself was conducted in complete violation of the local football statutes.
“I called for a rerun of the entire process and told CAS that the LFA election of April 14 should be canceled because it was illegal,” Madam Woodson said.
She said FIFA’s recent findings into the electoral dispute clearly indicate that the April 14 election was not held in keeping with the local football law.
“FIFA’s decision buttressed what I have been saying” Madam Woodson noted.
Rochell Woodson became acrimonious after the electoral guideline was released in which Presidential candidates were charged more than $2,000.00usd for the registration fee and candidates for election committee seats were allowed to present just one nomination paper, rather than the five nominations as required by the LFA Statutes.
The Liberia Football Association is to find a lawyer to visit Zurich to challenge Rochelle’s case at CAS.
The former women representative at the LFA EC who has won two cases against the LFA at CAS boasted that she will win the LFA and there will be a new election.
“I never went into a case with the LFA and did not win. So I will win and the election will be called over and those that are calling themselves Executives Committee members and Vice Presidents will throw away those titles”.
She called on football stakeholders to stay away from Congress and look up to CAS ruling. Rochell Woodson has made name for herself in recent times in Liberian football, winning the LFA in two cases at the Court of Arbitrations for Sports.
She was twice expelled by the LFA Congress, but those expulsions were overturned by CAS’s rulings.
Since then, some stakeholders see her as the “Iron Lady” of Liberian football. The rulings and hailing seem to be giving Rochelle the push to return to CAS, as she seems to know the terrain well.
While she fights for what she calls “the right thing to be done” it seems she’s creating many enemies as several stakeholders have begun raising concerns about her role played during the 2014 LFA election and the ebola football money saga in Liberia, as well as the purchasing of a wetland to construct the LFA headquarters for more than two hundred thousand united states dollars.
Despite her call the Liberia Football Association says it will go to Congress and election as planned.
