PUNTA GORDA, Sun. Nov. 2, 2014

To: Amandala Sports Editor

Please assist me to publish this in the next issue of the Amandala.

FFB President,

My confidant, mentor and faith-oriented colleague.

You have reminded me of Saul, who gave David a job, after which he tried to kill him, after seeing his ambition and wonderful production; similarly, you also reminded me of Cain, who got rid of Abel because he was greatly praised/rewarded by God for his ambitious production. My punishment, like David and Abel, came in the form of an illegal suspension for ambitiously reviving the wonderful game of football in the Toledo District, like never before.

Mr. President, you came to Toledo to endorse a Competitions Committee, for which I was offered chairmanship, because you and your executive members had realized that competitions at the local level were non-existent. The committee immediately began to function passionately to the best of its ability to initiate the revival of the sport at the senior level where the stakeholders, especially the players, started benefiting, not only by playing locally, but also by playing with teams at home such as Georgetown Ibayani, Red Bank Napoli, Toledo United, and against Georgetown Ibayani in that village for the celebration of Georgetown Day. There was also a game scheduled with Police United, which had to be postponed due to inclement weather on game day. The Belize National Team (The Jaguars) was also scheduled to play at the Toledo Union Football Field; however, it was called off, supposedly after a field inspection that was done by defunct Vice-President Raul Pelayo, with encouragement from individuals such as TFA’s Chairman and some of his executive members who were against this ambitious initiative.  It was initiatives like these, and others which had already been communicated, that had brought numerous commitments and praises from individuals at home and abroad. On the other hand, it is also initiatives like these that resulted in the illegal suspension of Chairperson of the Competitions’ Committee and the Vice-Chairman of TFA.

It all happened when the teams of Ridge To Reef Competition, after perusing the autonomous TFA’s Statutes, ambitiously organized an Extraordinary Congress, after numerous fruitless attempts were made to get the TFA’s executive to attend scheduled meetings to update the stakeholders of initiatives they would like to implement, and provide other necessary information related to the sport. Article 26 of the TFA’s Statutes, which was approved on October 2011, authorized the convening of an Extraordinary Congress and the agenda to be discussed; similarly, Article 13 and 14 of the TFA’s Statutes provides information regarding suspension and expulsion. The Extraordinary Congress, which was organized according to the stipulation of the autonomous Statutes, for which I was asked to witness, got me suspended for five years, which was contrary to the TFA’s Statutes and any other decision making document of the sport.

To add insult to injury, members of the Competitions Committee have realized that, not only were its chairperson and the TFA’s Vice-chairman suspended, but also the autonomous Statutes was suspended indefinitely. With this in mind, stakeholders are now asking: What is now the decision making document of the sport? Has dictatorship become the modus operandi of the sport? Has micro-management become the order of football in Belize? What is FIFA’s position on the events that have unfolded in our country? How soon will an impartial Statutes be implemented? Mr. President, your involvement in the sanctions levied on passionate individuals in Punta Gorda has reached every district, and has brought about numerous questions regarding your leadership which, it is hoped, you will have revisited and amended.

Finally, the Executive Members of FFB are being implored to revisit the autonomous Statutes, which was approved in 2011, to make amendments and implement it as quickly as possible for the development of countrywide commitment and trust by the stakeholders today and in the future.

Yours in the Sport, Passionately.

Passionate Stakeholder