Mr. Anil Roberts
The Honourable Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs
Port of Spain
12 October 2011
Honourable Minister,
On Sunday 28 August 2011, the member clubs of the Eastern Football Association were supposed to elect a new executive committee to manage the Association’s affairs for the period September 2011 to August 2013.
The seventeen clubs assembled for the EFA’s Annual General Meeting were denied the opportunity to do so when Wayne Riley, the returning officer appointed by the TTFF with the consent of the outgoing executive committee but ultra vires the EFA Constitution and without the agreement of the assembled clubs, declared the candidates nominated by FC Santa Rosa and seconded by Prisons Sports Club to have been improperly seconded and, therefore, ineligible to contest the election.
On that basis, Riley went on to declare the slate of candidates comprising the incumbent officers to be unopposed and returned to office for the new twoyear term. The meeting was never shown the letter in question.
Riley made his unilateral and illegal decision based on the presentation by persons unknown, of a letter from a person claiming to be the secretary of the Prisons Sports Club, who also claimed that the officer who signed on behalf of Prisons Sports Club to second the slate of candidates headed by Keith Look Loy was unauthorized to do so.
Despite the protestation of the affected candidates, the representative of the Prisons Sports Club and other clubs present, Riley declared his decision and left the meeting, which the outgoing EFA president, Lennox Watson, promptly closed and also left.
Thirteen of the seventeen clubs in attendance immediately wrote and signed a letter to the EFA/TTFF demanding the holding of the election on Sunday 4 September 2011.
Both organizations have ignored the clubs’ demand. The president of the Prisons Sports Club, John Rougier, who is also the Commissioner of Prisons, has since written a letter condemning the letter of the purported Club secretary as “null, void, ultra vires and without legal standing”, and reiterating the Club’s support for the candidates it has properly seconded: Keith Look Loy, Roger Griffith, Frank Rodriguez, Anil Maraj and Fallon Thomas.
Meantime, we have made multiple requests for a copy of the letter on which Riley based his decision. These requests have been ignored. We have also made multiple requests for a copy of Riley’s report to the TTFF. These requests have also been ignored.
On 6 October 2011, fourteen (14) member clubs attended a General Council meeting on the official invitation of EFA general secretary Neville Ferguson. At that meeting the clubs refused to install the EFA’s purported officers according to the EFA constitution, and moved and seconded the following motion.
“Given the events which affected the election of officers scheduled for 28 August 2011, be it resolved that this General Council meeting of 6 October 2011 mandates the EFA general secretary to organize an election of officers to be held on the morning of Sunday 30 October 2011, the deadline for the nomination of candidates being Sunday 16 October 2011”.
At the point of voting on the motion, Ferguson, who was in the chair, declared the proceedings to be unconstitutional as the purported officers had not been installed and ended the meeting.
On 7 October 2011, FC Santa Rosa wrote to TTFF general secretary Richard Groden regarding Ferguson’s conduct of this meeting, yet again seeking the Federation’s intervention.
On 12 October 2011 Groden responded to the club’s letter via email, indicating that TTFF president Oliver Camps has decided to appoint a three‐member committee to investigate the political impasse.
The clubs met on that evening, formed the Movement for Football Excellence (MOVE) and agreed to the appointment of said committee, but in letter to Camps dated 13 October 2011, we have indicated our concern that the committee should be impartial and should include the ability to address the constitutional and legal issues that are at the heart of the impasse. We have, therefore, proposed the inclusion of Larry Romany, president of the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee, as well Tyrone Marcus, an attorney in your Ministry and an official of the TT Pro League, as the committee’s other members.
MOVE intends to resist the travesty that passes for politics in the EFA, and to keep the struggle for democracy and development in the Association, and the TTFF by extension, alive. We refuse to allow our opponents to trample on the most basic principles of Fair Play, Natural Justice and Democracy.
The resolution of this matter could easily be achieved by the TTFF and EFA, and rests squarely on their willingness to act in accordance with the most basic principles of Democracy. MOVE hopes that both organizations will do the right thing.
We bring this matter directly to your attention to ensure that you are aware of what is taking place within the TTFF, given your Ministry’s key role in financing aspects of the TTFF operations. We attach a copy of relevant documents for your perusal.
In closing, we wish to make it absolutely clear that we intend to pursue this matter to the end, wherever the end may be. The member clubs of the Eastern Football Association must have their say, their right to democratically elect their executive leadership must be observed. We hope for a response.
Best regards,
Signed by:
Barataria Ballplayers FC
Carib FC
Creek Sports Club
FC Santa Rosa
La Horquetta FX
La Horquetta Sporting Academy
Malabar FC
Pinto United FC
Prisons Sports Club
St. John’s United FC
Tunapuna Titans FC
Upper Santa Cruz FC