Favour ain't fair

Opinions / Analysis

THE cancellation of Fijian League’s premier league final raises obvious questions of fairness.

The Tailevu Naitasiri and Sabeto game was called off after the latter couldn’t field a team in the grand finale.

It is learned from a well placed source that Sabeto pushed for the finals to be rescheduled at a later day as a few marquee players were not available for the game.

“With every team registering 20 players for the season, it is rather puzzling that a team couldn’t appear in the final, after the same played the semifinal,” said the source.

“Bad for football, even worse when it comes to decisions on the part of the league.”

Tailevu/ Naitasiri strength

Tailevu/ Naitasiri was at full strength and gauging from the ongoing rivalries between the teams, Sabeto was not prepared to settle for anything less than the championship.

Suspension, a final first

The suspension of the final has become a first in the history of Fijian football.

The final game hadn’t ever been shelved, and if anything the team that failed to take to the field, deemed forfeited the game.

And as such, Tailevu/ Naitasiri should have been declared the winner by default.

Insignificant?

The Fijian League, which had been defunct for years, was only revived on the promise of hope and good governance.

It is anything but.

There has been aversion among the football know-how as the debacle raises the very question on fairness over the interests of friends and few.

What the league failed to  understand is the intelligence of the football fans, who received the decision with a knee-jerk reaction.

And the obvious question is about fairness, or the lack of it.