I understand that FIFA, which is the organization that governs the sport of football within and between all countries under its authority, has powers which the nation states where its affiliates administer the sport, allow it to exercise. There have been instances where its affiliates had serious differences with their governments, and FIFA has come down on the side of its affiliates and penalized countries by banning their teams from participating in international tournaments. No government can afford to have it said that they were responsible for depriving its football players of prestige and financial benefits which might come with a stellar performance on the international stage. So. This is where the immense power of Dr. Bertie Chimilio, the president of the Football Federation of Belize, comes from.
I understand also that Dr. Bertie Chimilio has been president of FFB, the FIFA affiliate which governs football in Belize, for the last decade; that he is the personal friend of Mr. Jack Warner, who is the head of CONCACAF. That the other members of FFB are beholden to him for the positions they hold, and that he has the power to remove them at will.
Chimilio is also politically astute, being able to play our political leaders against each other, so that there are no expressions of dissatisfaction with his stewardship when teams representing Belize are consistently humiliated in international competition to the point where our country is now rated last among all the countries competing for the World Cup.
The story of football in Belize under the regime of Dr. Chimilio is an example of a country which does not seem to have any national pride. But worse is yet to come.
In the regional division of the World Cup tournament played every four years, Belize is one of the countries which belong to CONCACAF – the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Football Associations.
We will be playing our first match in the World Cup qualifying tournament against the tiny island of St. Kitts/Nevis on Wednesday, February 6. You would think that the players on the team were chosen from our best players by the most competent judges available. Our best players are on the teams of the Belize Premier Football League (BPFL), which is at the highest level of the sport. It stands to reason that the executive of BPFL and those engaged in the ownership and management of their franchise clubs, are the most competent to choose our national team but, that is not the case. FFB announced the names of the players to represent Belize, but not the names of its Selection Committee. Since the names of its Selection Committee has never been made public, it has to be assumed that FFB considers that the selection process is its prerogative and that they are not answerable to anyone. But, there is worse to come.
It has been announced by FFB that the game with St. Kitts/Nevis, which is designated as Belize’s home game in the series, will be played at the Lopez Mateos Stadium in Guatemala City (as a preliminary match) because there is no field in Belize up to the standards set by FIFA for international matches.
At this point, I think we have to raise some serious questions. Is Dr. Chimilio a citizen of the sovereign nation state of Belize? The answer is yes. Does he know that Guatemala claims a portion of Belizean territory? The answer is also yes. Can we then ask, is this action of Dr. Chimilio and his FFB executive patriotic? Decidedly not. Then, is the action of Dr. Chimilio and his FFB executive unpatriotic? That is a rhetorical question. What name shall we, the citizens of Belize, put on the action of Dr. Chimilio and his FFB executive? I leave the answer to my readers.
What about the action of the players on the Belize national team? Why are they willing to become a party to such a venture which clearly reflects adversely on our sense of nationhood? These young men are the product of our culture, traditions, and above all, our educational system. If they do not fully appreciate why they should not play a “home” game in a foreign country which claims their own, the fault lies elsewhere.
The simple fact is that Belizeans are more concerned about whether the Red or the Blue wins the upcoming general elections than to uphold the honor and dignity of the nation in an international contest in a football game.
Children in other countries are taught in their schools and by their parents to love and revere their symbols of nationhood and their native land. Have they been so taught in Belize? If not, then, our football players are not to be blamed for thinking it is alright to play a home game in Guatemala. They are not to be blamed. But should they be allowed to disgrace the nation? Do they have a human right to make the rest of us hang our heads in shame?
I don’t think that this is an issue for the government or Opposition to take action. But how can they preside over a nation where its sportsmen can behave like this? They share in the responsibility for not seeing the need for inspiring a sense of nationhood amongst the populace. If Philip Goldson were alive, he would not allow this to happen.