Unfair play!

THE EDITOR, Madam:

The daCosta Cup match between St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) and Manchester High School, contested on Saturday, October 19 in Santa Cruz, marked the fourth straight game at home for STETHS in the daCosta Cup competition.

Having identified what appeared to be quite obviously unfair strategising to secure priority treatment for Zone E qualifiers to the round of 32, I engaged the key players in conversations as early as October 14, 2024 with a view to address said concern. Despite efforts made by the daCosta Cup chairman, who assured me he would have addressed the matter, no change was made to the groupings. This was not surprising to me, as the ISSA president indicated to me prior that no change will be made, regardless of my observations.

It is important to note that it is stated explicitly in the competition manual that “ISSA reserves the right to change the order, times or venues of the matches”.

The following observations are pertinent to the subject:

• Thirteen second-place teams are in the round of 32, and only three teams, including STETHS in Zone E, have two home games. These three teams could easily play at a neutral venue.

• Of the eight groups in the round of 32, the group with the Zone E winner is the only group with two second-place teams and a third-place team comprising the four teams. Every other group with a third-place team has two group winners in it.

In the words of a member of the Munro community, it “wasn’t set for us, but we will happily take it”.

• Further, in the zoning of round of 32, the alphabetical sequence of winners is inexplicably broken to apparently insert Zone E in a privileged place.

Group 1: Winner of A

Group 2: Winner of B

Group 3: Winner of C

Then ...

*Group 4: Winner of E*

• Only three groups, including Groups 3 and 4 (containing the winner and runner-up in Group E), avoid the Clarendon teams, who have been playing the best in recent times.

Questions

1. Would any well-reasoned individual dismiss all these as coincidences?

2. What was the process that led to the qualifiers from Zone E, including the school led by the president of ISSA, ending up in such an advantageous position?

It must be of concern that higher-ranked teams from the previous ranking exercise did not enjoy the same privilege.

3. Why don’t we, in the interest of probity, transparency and good governance, reserve the

privilege of hosting two home games for the 13 zone winners only?

In the words of Lord Hewart, the Lord Chief Justice of England (1924): “Justice must not only be done, but it must also seem to be done.”

I call on our esteemed principals’ organisation to bond together and insist that all schools be treated fairly and equitably, as we all seek to advance the lives of our young people.

JASFORD GABRIEL

Principal

Manchester High School