PLDC - Iranian Football Federation’s disciplinary committee delivered a verdict on Thursday which fines Gol Gohar Sirjan FC with changing the results of the three matches of the team to 3-0.
The committee concluded that Gabonese attacker Eric Baboue Bagnama Bocoum does not have the legal requirements for playing in the Iranian league and there have been some forged documents around.
Since Bocoum’s arrival in Iran this summer, there were rumors about him not qualified for the Iranian league. According to a regulation passed by the federation, players coming from some African countries, including Gabon, should have at least four caps for their national senior team.
Bocoum made his debut for Gol Gohar against Esteghlal on November 24, however, some reports published before the match indicated that the striker does not have four appearances in international events.
Esteghlal lodged an official complaint before the disciplinary committee right after the match. But Gol Gohar insisted that the Iranian federation had already confirmed the information inquired from the Gabonese federation on the issue.
Gol Gohar continued to use the player in the next two matches against Paykan FC and Sepahan SC and the two clubs also registered their separate complaints about the issue.
The Sirjan-based club published a new letter allegedly coming from Gabon’s football federation which read that the striker had played four matches for the national team against Benin, Liberia, Togo, and Rwanda. The letter just added to the ambiguities because according to official data available online, Gabon has not played against three of the teams on announced dates. The only correct date was Gabon’s encounter with Benin, however, Bocoum was not on the list.
According to this information, the committee announced Esteghlal, Paykan, and Sepahan as winners of the matches against Gol Gohar.
Gol Gohar can appeal to the higher court.
With the new results, Gol Gohar fell from 3rd to 8th place on the IPL table with 12 points from 10 matches. Sepahan and Esteghlal lead the table with 22 points.