Stay the course
Stories by EZRA STUART (The Nation)
Published on: 2/4/08.
PRIME MINISTER DAVID THOMPSON believes Minister of Education and Human Resource Development Ronald Jones should stay on as president of the Barbados Football Association (BFA) and fulfil his stint.
Delivering the keynote address at the BFA's annual awards ceremony at Almond Bay, Hastings, Christ Church on Sunday night, Thompson told Jones, "the ball was in his half" and once it was within the rules, he should continue and try to secure benefits for football.
There has been suggestions in some quarters that Jones should follow the same route which former president of the Amateur Athletics Association, Noel Lynch, took when he became Minister of Tourism and vacate the top post.
"I don't know what the rules are but I think, Ronald, as Minister of Education, if it is possible and feasible and lawful and morally correct and so on, you should stay on as president and fulfil your term.
"You are best placed to do that, that's my view, but I leave that up to you and the rules that apply in that regard," Thompson said.
"The Football Association is not a company. It doesn't operate in the way that a corporate entity may operate and therefore as an NGO (Non-Governmental Organisation), sometimes it is useful to have somebody who has an inside in the operations of Government," he added.
"And I think that whatever time is left to you, you should use it wisely to secure whatever benefits you think are necessary for football," Thompson suggested.
Austin "Jack" Warner, vice-president of the sport's governing body, FIFA and president of CONCACAF, also attended the awards ceremony and also encouraged Jones not to blow the whistle on the sport.
"He is one of our best and most knowledgeable administrators of football in the Caribbean and now that he is a Government minister, he is in a better position to help football in Barbados," Warner said.
"He has done what I failed to do and therefore while I may be his teacher in football, I am prepared to sit at his feet in politics," added Warner, an Opposition member in Trinidad and Tobago.
Jones did not give an assurance on how long he would continue to head the association during his address, but said the no-confidence motion which was being considered by individuals against him and the BFA's executive during the recent general election campaign, was never brought to the fore.
"I was concerned at the time that the agenda was not a football agenda but it was a political agenda and therefore people read that script and dismissed it for what it was worth."
