Breaking News: CAS extends ruling on Palmer vs Ghana FA case
The Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS) has for the second time extended the date for the ruling of the hugely-anticipated case between Wilfred Kweku Osei “Palmer” and the Ghana Football Association (GFA) to Tuesday, September 1, 2020.
This is the second time the global sports tribunal has postponed its verdict in a rare and spectacular manner.
CAS were scheduled to announce the awaited verdict on Tuesday, August 4 after an initial postponement from July 17.
However, in a spectacular twist of event, the global sports court has for the second time, deferred the verdict to Tuesday, September 1, 2020.
“On behalf of the Deputy President of the CAS Arbitration Division, please be advised that the time limit to communicate the Arbitral Award to the parties, pursuant to Article 59 of the Code of Sports-related Arbitration, has been extended until September 1, 2020.” a letter addressed to both the appellant and defendant on Wednesday read.
There have been massive tension and speculation in the media after the Court of Arbitration for Sport failed to deliver its verdict on Tuesday, forcing supporters of current FA boss Kurt Okraku to put their champagne on ice.
Local journalists were also left disappointed after they besieged the residence of Palmer in anticipation of the ruling on Tuesday in what has turned out to be a mind-game.
Kurt Okraku’s loyalists Albert Commey and Takyi Arhin claimed the two parties had received an executive summary of the ruling – a claim which turned out to be a complete hoax, forcing Palmer to issue a statement to rubbish the report.
Palmer is seeking to overturn last year’s Ghana FA Presidential election after being disqualified.
The global tribunal body confirmed Tuesday, August 4 as the date to announce the verdict to bring to an end 10-month litigation which has far-reaching implications for the administration of football in the West African nation.
While several watchers had been keen on the much-awaited verdict, CAS swerved Ghanaians by refusing to release the final judgment on Tuesday after an initial postponement from July 17.
These are frenetic times for the followers of both disqualified Osei and current FA boss Kurt Okraku.
Palmer dragged the FA to the apex of world sports court after he was disqualified from contesting the 2019 Presidential election by the Normalisation Committee.
There are two things likely to happen – CAS to throw out the case and allow the status quo to remain or order for a re-run of the election if it was deemed the plaintiff was unfairly disqualified from the race.
CAS will announce the decision whether to uphold Palmer’s quest to annul the election and order for fresh polls to decide on a new President for the GFA or allow the status quo to remain.
The situation has put the presidency of Kurt Okraku on the line with wide-reaching implications if Palmer becomes successful.
The ruling from CAS will put to rest months of intense anxiety involving all the principal actors.
An initial ruling on July 17, 2020, was postponed to Tuesday, August 4, 2020, and now fixed for September 1, 2020.
credit: Ghanasoccernet
