Former president to contest CONCACAF elections.
by: Rawle Nelson (Sun St. Kitts/Nevis).
Local association to determine if it will support in coming days
Ousted president of the St. Kitts/Nevis Football Association, Peter Jenkins will be involved again in another football battle as he tries to win a regional post.
Jenkins was given marching orders as the SKNFA general elections held a mere two months ago is hoping that come 1 June he will be elected to the CONCACAF Executive Committee.
During the 1 March SKNFA general elections, Jenkins was attempted to hold unto a post that he had held for several years. This time around, however, he will be attempting to oust the incumbent for a seat that he has admitted he intends to win.
Jenkins will be contesting the seat currently being held by Horace Burrell of Jamaica. The election is anticipated to be a heated one as both Burrell and Jenkins have served as the number one man in their respective local associations. They are both regarded as football icons in terms of administrations.
Speaking to Sun St.Kitts/Nevis, President of the SKNFA, Anthony Johnson said the association will be making a statement in the coming days on the issue. He noted that his association only became aware of this development last week and has not been able to meet to determine the way forward.
When asked whether the association will support Jenkins or Burrell, Johnson stressed that the public will know who they would be supporting in the coming days. “At this moment, I do not wish to comment, but I can assure the public that they would be made aware of our decision in the coming days,” Johnson said.
In a recent Jamaica Gleaner newspaper report, Burrell was quoted as saying, “I’m very confident I will get the full backing of my colleagues in the Caribbean, as well as North and Central America.”
The Gleaner newspaper added, “But we have to respect the process of democracy and in any organisation, individuals are going to aspire and mount challenges that must be respected and, therefore, I’m taking it in this vein.”
The 1 June election for a spot on the Executive Committee of the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Associations of Football (CONCACAF) will be held in The Bahamas.
Burrell, the president of the Jamaica Football Federation, has held the post for the last six years and feels he can withstand the challenge from Jenkins.
Jenkins was recently re-appointed to serve on CONCACAF’s Legal and Statutes Committee for another two years, after holding the position since 2006.
Meanwhile, in other CONCACAF related news coming out of Zurich, Switzerland, Caribbean Football Union (CFU) and Trinidad & Tobago’s Jack Warner was re-elected to serve another four-year term as vice president of FIFA. According to reports, he was elected unopposed for the post which also saw a number of other unopposed seats as well. General-Secretary of CONCACAF Chuck Blazer was also re-elected unopposed to serve on the world’s governing body Executive Committee.
Warner who has been at the helm of CONCACAF for a number of years was first elected to FIFA on its Executive Committee in 1983 while Blazer first got the nod in 1996.
Warner is the Caribbean’s representative whole Blazer is North America's representative.
Within the confederation, Alfredo Hawit of Honduras was nominated unopposed for another term as CONCACAF vice-president of the Central American zone.
Also, Sunil Gulati of the USA was nominated without opposition for another term on the CONCACAF Executive Committee from the North American zone.
The 66-year-old Warner is the president of the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) and will see his four-year- term running until 2013. CONCACAF announced in a press release that Warner and Blazer will formally begin their new terms at the conclusion of the FIFA Congress in the Bahamas on 3 June, two days after the XXVI CONCACAF Ordinary Congress on the Atlantic Ocean archipelago.
