After four years of delays, procedural twists and unanswered questions, the SAFA Appeal Board is finally set to hear the appeal of Lutfeyah Abrahams.
The hearing comes against a backdrop that is likely to invite renewed scrutiny of SAFA Cape Town’s handling of the matter. Significantly, Liverpool FC’s appeal on the very same issues was upheld four years ago, with Safa Cape Town not only losing the case but also being ordered to pay costs.
Equally noteworthy is the fact that SAFA Cape Town ultimately settled the related bereavement claim, making payment on the very day the matter was due to proceed to trial in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court three years ago.
Those developments inevitably raise a number of uncomfortable questions. If an appeal on the same issues has already succeeded and a related civil claim was settled before evidence could be tested in court, why has it taken four years for Abrahams’ appeal to be heard? And what explanation exists for a delay of this magnitude in a matter that has remained unresolved for so long?
With the appeal finally set down for hearing, attention is likely to shift from the merits of the case itself to the processes, decisions and delays that have characterised its journey through the football justice system.
Bennett Bailey’s region now faces another hefty legal bill come Thursday. The big question is: Who’s going to pay and who’s going to own up for this maladministration?
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