The Minister of Public Service, Governance Improvement, Elections & Boundaries and Sports, Hon. John Saldivar, has signed a Statutory Instrument cited as the Sports (Investigations Committee) Order 2010. This instrument appoints a Committee to investigate specific matters relating to elections of the Football Federation of Belize.
The members of the committee are Mr. Joseph McGann, Chairman, who currently works with the office of Climate Change and was former member of the Belize National Football Association (BNFA); Mr. Gerald Henry, nationally acclaimed football star of the once famous Avengers Football Club, now a retired public officer and member of the Public Services Commission; and Mr. Oswald Twist, Attorney at Law. Their terms of reference are as follows:
1. To review and establish the validity or otherwise of the appointment of the executives of the Members of the Football Federation of Belize;
2. To review and establish the validity or otherwise of the decision of the Football Federation of Belize to disallow nominations for elections to the executive of the Football Federation of Belize by one of its members (i.e. the Belize Premier Football League);
3. To review and establish the validity or otherwise of the endorsement election of the executive of the Football Federation of Belize which was conducted at a meeting held on 18th December 2010 at the Football Federation of Belize’s headquarters;
And to determine any other matter relating to the above.
The Committee begins its work this week in the Toledo and Stann Creek Districts and is mandated, by the instrument, to submit the report of its findings no later than 28th January 2011.
(Ed. Note: Football fans may better recognize the name “Speedy” Henry who is Gerald Henry, Sr., former Avengers star, who has been appointed as a member of the Investigations Committee. He is the father of Gerald Henry, Jr., a presently active FIFA certified football referee in Belize. According to an accompanying Ministry release, the Investigations Committee is empowered under the laws of Belize by an “Order” which “comes into force on 29th day of December 2010.)