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Super League football is “waste a time” says FFB President

SportsSuper League football is “waste a time” says FFB President
There is a problem facing the FFB and its controversial president, Dr. Bertie Chimilio. The problem is bigger for Dr. Chimilio than he would care to admit, but his remark during a discussion at his press conference last week, gave him away. With all the questions and negative reports over the last few years, and recently even from one who is a sitting fellow executive member (Trenton Miller – “Analyze and Pause” series of articles in Amandala), all these come into perspective and are given more validity when the very president of the federation that is supposed to be the supreme body governing the playing of football in Belize can refer to the Super League, a newly formed semipro national league, as a “waste a time” league.
 
A couple years ago, when the FFB was feuding with the BPFL, it had made its own attempt to run a so-called “B League” competition and have its champion club represent Belize, instead of the legitimate top national club, the champion of the BPFL. Some good things did come out of that venture, nevertheless, as a number of players in the “B League” eventually became active in the BPFL.
 
There was a vacuum in football that needed to be filled, but the FFB’s “B League” hardly covered the country, and, in fact, the FFB had no business to be directly running competitions. It is the member leagues that form the FFB that should be running competitions. But not even the FFB’s ill fated “B League” could be considered a “waste a time”, because ball was being played, more players were active, and that is what should be one of the primary concerns of the parent body of football in Belize – promoting, encouraging and assisting in the organization and development of the sport of football in Belize.
 
For the FFB to regard the Super League, a new league that, with no financial or other contributions from the FFB, has so far successfully run a national semipro competition, and is now showcasing youth football and female football games, as a “waste a time” league is disappointing and misguided. 
 
The talent concentration in the Super League is probably a notch or two below the BPFL, which is logical and understandable. But some former BPFL teams and individual players have been with the Super League as a matter of choice, and the present leader in the Super League, Texmar Boys, is in fact a reincarnation of a former BPFL champ, Sagitun.
 
What the Super League really is, is a golden and ready-made opportunity for the FFB to use its influence to finally establish a legitimate relegation system in national semipro football, the missing step in semipro since its inception a decade and a half ago. The problem has always been, what to do with semipro teams that are dropped from the competition.
 
If things could be worked out with the BPFL, the FFB could be credited with achieving, through diplomacy and mature leadership, a major step forward for football in Belize. But therein lies the problem for the FFB, and which is betrayed by its expressed attitude quoted earlier. Dr. Chimilio and the FFB are embarrassed by the existence of the Super League, which came into being precisely because a number of football players, officials, sponsors and executives were seriously dissatisfied with the perceived lack of transparency, accountability and “fair play” in the management of the resources of football by the Dr. Chimilio led FFB.
 
But whenever there is an international football tournament that requires national team representation, the FFB makes an appearance via a press conference where little else can be discussed, and asks the media, football fans, the private sector and government to jump on board its bandwagon to defend the national honor. As proud Belizeans, we all have no choice but to support our boys. But the question is, are we doing our best to select our best team and to prepare it for international competition? Dr. Chimilio’s FFB would be the first to say “no”, but they would not admit to being a major part of the problem.
 
Successive governments have failed to deal with the problem of football administration in Belize at the highest level. In the meantime, the Super League and certain other district associations, like Belmopan, are operating completely independently of the FFB. And, judging from the expressed attitude of the FFB President, no genuine overtures are being made to bring these “waste a time” leagues and associations into the fold of the “football family”. Perhaps such overtures, would be too uncomfortable for Dr. Chimilio if they are to be meaningful. In the meantime, the Super League is an embarrassment to the FFB leadership.       

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