Hearing date set for Ba football duo

The High Court in Suva has set a hearing date for Ba football players, Saula Waqa and Manasa Nawakula.

The hearing is set for November 27, where the court will hear Waqa and Nawakula’s constitutional redress claims against the president of Fiji Football Association (Fiji FA), Rajesh Patel, and the chief executive officer, Mohammed Yusuf.

Waqa and Nawakula are currently suspended for three years from all levels of football related activities after testing positive for marijuana on August 7 during the Punjas Battle of the Giants games in Lautoka. Anti-doping tests were conducted on both players by the Fiji FA’s medical committee, and Waqa and Nawakula tested positive for marijuana. They were also fined $500 each. Their lawyer, Abhay Singh from AK Lawyers, filed a constitutional redress in court seeking a declaration that the suspension of Waqa and Nawakula was a breach of the Fijian Constitution and sought the methods of testing used in their case.

Waqa and Nawakula have claimed that the drug tests conducted were illegal or being done in breach of their rights.

They are seeking damages against both respondents – Patel and Yusuf.

The matter was called yesterday before Justice Deepthi Amaratunga.