For the last twelve plus years, ever since Dr. Bertie Chimilio assumed the presidency in 1998 of the Football Federation of Belize (FFB), the officially recognized football body by FIFA in Belize, controversy and discontent has been the order of the day in the “football family” of Belize. And neither has there been much success on the football field for our national teams.
Through all these years, FIFA has maintained an annual subvention of BZE $500,000.00 (US $1,000,000.00 every 4 years) through its Football Aid Programme (FAP) towards “football development,” to be disbursed as seen fit by the FFB. In addition to these funds, FIFA also embarked on a number of “Goal Projects”, whereby specific infrastructure projects were funded by FIFA directly. And FIFA, through the regional body CONCACAF, also has made available to Belize a number of training opportunities abroad for managers, coaches, etc., as well as providing funding for special workshops and training seminars in Belize. All member countries benefit similarly from FIFA.
Around the middle of last year, there were rumors of additional monies received by the FFB, monies supposedly earmarked for assistance to leagues, and specifically the struggling FFB affiliated Belize Premier Football League (BPFL). As things turned out, the FFB promptly embarked on its own “Interdistrict Tournament”, with no age restrictions on players, and even including some semi-pro players on club rosters. This occurred during the time when the BPFL competition was still on-going. The 8-team BPFL 2010-2011 “Opening Season” tournament climaxed with the finals on February 13 of this year at the Norman Broaster Stadium in San Ignacio, where defending back-to-back champions Belize Defence Force (BDF) made it three in a row when they stopped Toledo Ambassadors, 2-0.
Sports Minister Hon. John Saldivar was there to congratulate the winners and hand over the championship trophy; but that’s all it was – a trophy.
Meanwhile, the Super League of Belize, which is not affiliated to the FFB, completed its 2010 tournament on September 19 of last year, with newly crowned champions City Boys United receiving their championship trophy along with a Belize Bank check for $25,000.00. 2nd place Nizhee Corozal took home $10,000.00. And individual player award trophies were each accompanied by a check for $300.00.
The 2011 Super League tournament, now in full swing, has 8 clubs again, like last year, with similar prize money in the package. But the much older and FFB affiliated BPFL barely got its new season off the ground with only 4 clubs, which did not include last year’s 2nd place team, Toledo Ambassadors.
To most fans, it was a real pity that the FFB could not come up with a cash prize to help out the BPFL, who have found great difficulty garnering the support of the business community, all because of the tainted image of the FFB. Businesses are adamant, especially in these tough economic times, that they will not put their money into an organization which is run as a dictatorship, and is totally unaccountable and un-transparent in its financial matters. They only have to look at the Houston, Texas, Belize World Cup qualifying game against Mexico to rekindle the questions of the FFB finances. With Dr. Chimilio at the helm, the Belize business community sees the FFB as anathema, and are therefore reluctant to help the BPFL, who they see as a willing victim.
But the FFB could have helped the BPFL, and given the winning clubs a reward, if it wanted to. It certainly had the money. FIFA has now confirmed last year’s rumours (check FIFA.com for the FIFA Financial Report 2010) that, yes indeed, additional monies, a huge amount, in fact, was given to the FFB last year for “football development”. How much? US $250,000.00, which is equivalent to BZE $500,000.00. Shouldn’t BDF and Toledo Ambassadors players have received a little touch of the FIFA generosity? Where is the money? Who benefited from it?
But that was not all; that US $250,000.00 (BZE $500,000.00) that FIFA gave to every member football federation last year as a bonus from the World Cup profits was not all. Just this year January, after the completion of FIFA’s financial report for 2007-2010, it decided to give another bonus to each member federation. So the FFB should have gotten a further US $300,000.00, which is BZE $600,000.00, for more “football development”. Now remember, that is in addition to the annual subvention of BZE $500,000.00 that the FFB receives from FIFA. It’s a crazy amount of money we’re talking here. And yet, BDF and Toledo Ambassadors players who reached the national finals of Belize, under the umbrella of the FFB, got not a single cent. Where is the love, FFB? “For the love of the sport, support!”
Recently, since Sports Minister Hon. John Saldivar and his Ministry of Sports had been putting pressure on the FFB to respect the laws of Belize, there were some new rumors of secret talks being held with a FIFA agent, a Mr. Lookloy, with grand and wonderful offers being made to both BPFL and Super League clubs. And suddenly last Friday, the FFB was inviting these and other clubs to their Belmopan headquarters to show them “the promised land”. It sounds like the cash will now be flowing, but only one thing the clubs have to agree on – to come together under the FFB, with Dr. Bertie Chimilio remaining as President. The offer sounds almost too good to be true – free uniforms, free footballs, subsidized referee fees, subsidized transportation costs, and more. It’s an offer that may be difficult for clubs to refuse. But there is one catch: once Dr. Chimilio is in control of the purse strings, there will be the matter of CONFIDENCE. Will all these promises be kept?
The long awaited report of the Ministry of Sports’ Investigation Committee has still not been released. Meanwhile, football players remain pawns in a process that will soon be determined by league officials and club owners/managers. In Belize, football players just want to play. To them, football is like drugs; a healthy “drug”, but it nevertheless makes them susceptible to being “played”. In the days ahead, they will need to keep their eyes on the ball, while also keeping an eye on the money.