LFA Appeal Committee Overturns Cassell Kuoh's Permanent Expulsion

The Liberia Football Association's (LFA) Appeal Committee has overturned the permanent expulsion of Cassell Kuoh, president of FC Fassell, ruling that the body which banned him never had the authority to do so. The committee declared the original expulsion "void ab initio" — invalid from the outset — and restored Kuoh to all rights and privileges as an LFA official.

Kuoh had been expelled from all football-related activities by the LFA's Grievance and Disciplinary Committee after taking an internal football dispute to civil court, which the committee said violated the association's governance statutes. The Appeal Committee's ruling, issued August 27, found two problems with that decision: under Articles 27(D) and 43(K) of the LFA Statutes, only the LFA Congress, voting by a three-fourths majority, can expel a member — a power the Grievance and Disciplinary Committee does not hold. The committee also lacked the quorum required for such a case, with only one of its three members deciding the matter after the other two recused themselves, short of the minimum of three members Article 81.1 requires.

"I welcome the decision with gratitude and humility," Kuoh said in response to the ruling. "I respect the processes and institutions of our football and remain confident that, when matters are considered fairly and in accordance with the rules that govern us, the right outcome will prevail." He said his focus remains on youth empowerment and the development of Liberian football.

The reversal is the latest turn in a monthslong dispute over authority inside the LFA that had also spilled into Liberia's courts earlier in the year, at one point delaying elections within the federation.