ASSOCIATION.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 592, 21 August 1909, Page 12

ASSOCIATION.

(Bv Oentuj;-Hai,f.) After a protracted period of litigation, as they say in the law Courts, the St. John sSwifts dispute was finally settled by the council of, tho New Zealand Football Association at a meeting wjiioh was held on Tuesday last, and settled in favour of the Swifts, fc-r the matoh in dispute is to stand as a win for that club, in terms of, the following resolution:—. "That tjio anpeaj of the Swifts Club bo uphold, anpl the watch stand as a win for Swifts, as in the opinion of this counoil Aβ player in question (B. L. Salmon) did "not infringe hie status as a player, but aa a member of tho Management Committee of'tlio Wellington >'■;. Iftpth.all^^qpiatipii? ,;;■:-; :".;':S.j; ■•''As,this .matter is no longer, sub juiiice, tihe opportunity now* presents itself for, a rfr> view <Jf the : facts 'of this interesting case, for in ; the opinion .of : ;.the..writer.tbe,;v above, decision will not be acceptable to all, and it will probably assist.'to a. proper.' understanding'of .the dispute if ■ the. whole, of ~the .circumstances appertaining thereto , ..-era /logic-■ ally''got 'out. In'thp beginning.(the precise, d?ite: is iimn)ate.riap,; ! ,:Swifts .;defeated -St.' John's in, a, certain '■■ first .diyifiipn senior league championship' match,: incre.a,sing;t);<jir itanding fqr championship, honours., -:*?d : a<t the 1 same time,lessening their opponents .In. this particular match, Swifts, being a;man short, ■ enlisted tho '.services''qf-B.'-.L, ■'■ Salmon, a; duly,; registered Shifts , ..player,: and also a member of .the Management Coinmitiea/. of the-.Wellington , Football Association. $;'■■ 'John'sproteste'd agajuist their opponents , , ■\vjri, basing their. prptest;;on a comparatively ■recent amendment to Rule 5, of, {he Rules ■and: By-laws of the Football 'Aβgooiition, which- contains* the following:'—.. '■■■■:.'} : v f. '•. ; : v -The'- affairs.of; th& associationshall be> in. hands of a Slanagement Committee of seven, ■ to be, elected t ; from ! delegates at the animal > meeting. Such Manrage'ment' Committee, shall not consist of any pfayer. wh° 'is 1 directly-.interested with any; club' under the'jurisdiction of .the; ; Wellington Football Association. .. ~;■,■;..";. .-.'■' rlTie appeal pf:'St,; team was. duly, considered by. the Management ■ Committee and disallowed, the committee ruling .that when Salmon stepped on: to the.:field of play ho ceased, ipso facto, to be a' member, of Management Committee.:-Salmon was there-, upon; re-olec(;ed to his,seat on the .committee,v it being, lipweveF, ruled that .no precedent was to be. considered as having been established,.: aa there appeared _ to be sopie : misunderstanding-on the : particular; point ■involved in: thiß particular, rule. ■:'.:• v '.i gt. John's, dissatisfied with, thedeciison of the Management Committee, appealed i under Rule 11, and the. matter was then referred to an , : Appeal Board for adiudication;. with .the. result that the,decision, bf the commit£>a was reversed, and the match, ordered to te. repL-iyetl/ The Managemqnt Committee, ; dissatisfied,-in its turn, :with the: finding of. tho Appeal Boaiii, referred it back (under what ::authority : is' not .clear).;.with...an. instruction that ! evidenoe be. called I Jt. went /baok, and' finally returned to the coinmittee,, in statu quo. The committee perforce 'accepted the ultimate decision of its Appeal 'Board, and ordered the ■ match to ..be . rp'played, gwifte tiien invoked tho pssigtancoof the Rule B, oolc of the New Zealand EOVr erning body, and under Rule 18 appealed to tlie council of the'N.Z.F.A: against,the cision of th.o Management Corqmitteo of the Welungton Football ABsociatipn, with .the rWilttbat in the pnd: they .gained : their point. So much for the history of the case. ITiose who have accompanied tho writer thus far'may no doubt- feelisatiiified in their own minds- us to the merits of the case/ but if they will.travel a little further thBV will see broad daylight, and avoid all possible chance ■of .error. ■ ';■ ' '• :■- ■' ■ :'■ ■■ :, - ; ..■■■-.•''_.:-■■.- In the first place, Salmon, under Rule 5. cpuld not bo a player "directly interestedj and a rnember :p { tji e Management ..Commit-tee-at tho. same time.. Tbo rule is npt'-only. pqrfeptly plear on that point, but eminently sound in principle. ■ Therefore' he was eithpr a' player , or , a .member..of, the; qomrnjttee. If - l le was a player, then his plection to tho Management Committee wai invalid, andall acts pf that body sincD hie plootion are in- 1 valid. If,'however, he was properly a member pf the cpmmitiee, he could not directly Interest himself with'any olub as » player. TheS.wifts Club," in playing hjm in the match dgainst St. John's, comrnjtW a ■breach of the rules, and, quite rightly, woro proceeded against for this breach, . Secondly,- although Hhis breach was purely a technical one, it was a valid ground of protest, just as the playing of a boy over a"e in a junior match is a valid ground of protest, and tbo appeal should havo : been a)lQTV?!l. Thp Mimagement Committee ( ' ls " allowed it: by placing on record tho ridjeulous suggestion: that as, a member pf the cefisea to be.such,when the nelcl as- a player, Salmoni was a, ..bopa fide''player in the matph in is an obvious distortion of tho principle ■upon which the rule is based,: The committee capped this by, solemnly reinstating Salrppn, and eayinu, in effept, that "\hU sort ol ttlng must not occar »B»ia;! ' ,•

Thirdly, the first deoision of tho Appeal Board appointed by the Management Oommitteo to adjudjoate iipon tho merits of tho appeal lodged by St. John's against tho committee's decision, should have been accepted. That this was not done, that the board's first decision was sent back for furfclior roviow, was an unwarrantable intrusion, by tho committee, upon tjio authority of the board, which, however! Btood to its previous, decision. Fourthly, tho decision of tho ■ council of tho New Zcajand Football Association upon tho appeal of the Swifts against tho final decision of tho Appeal Board set up by the Wellington Committee, is based upon an illogical analysis of Salmon's position. ''~.. the player in question did not infringe 'his status, as a player, but as ft member of tho Management Committee. ..'•.,. rutin this illuminating decision, which entirely ignores tho pnnciplo laid down in Rule 5 of the Rules and By-Laws of tho Wellington Centra, If, according t<; this rule, a man cannot bo a player "directly Interested," and a tnombor of the Management Committee at tho same time, how on earth can he poeaibly bo oonsidered, on a 'certain ocqasion, to have d° no tho Tight thing as a player, and tho wrong thing as a member of the committee.'

V'Soccer" in Southland is gradually becoming stronger. ■'• There '■ arc ttireo junior teams.,.-seven.schools, and five senior clubs in the.local association. ' • .' :.'

■'■ Inglowood lias joined the Taranaki Football Association. ' There arc now Bevon olubs tin the. association. . ; : . .-i" . .;.