TO: All EFA member clubs and other interested persons
FROM: Keith Look Loy, President, FC Santa Rosa
DATE: 11 August 2011
After much consideration of the implications of the decision I have taken, it is with the support of my club, FC Santa Rosa, and my colleagues in football that I hereby announce my candidacy for the presidency of the Eastern Football Association, which will be decided upon by the membership of the EFA on 25 August 2011.
LACK OF DEMOCRACY AND TRANSPARENCY
Over the course of the last two years I have represented FC Santa Rosa in the General Council of the EFA, i.e. the assembly of clubs. During that time I have been witness to, and resisted, the consistent attempt of the current leadership, under president Lennox Watson and general secretary Neville Ferguson, to maintain a culture of personal dictatorship and abuse of member clubs, a culture lacking in democracy and transparency.
Under the outgoing leadership, the participation of member clubs in the life of the Association has virtually become meaningless, as the majority of clubs avoid meetings due to a sense of futility in having their collective voice heard and their decisions respected. Rather than seeking to overcome the disenchantment of clubs by motivating them to participate in meetings, the EFA executive committee relies on the TTFF Constitution, which absurdly recognizes twenty five percent of clubs as a valid quorum for a meeting, thus providing EFA meetings with the superficial façade of democracy.
Even worse is the fact that member clubs are forced to demand the presentation of meeting minutes, and other meeting documents – a demand the EFA secretariat has refused to accede to in recent months. Indeed, the Association´s secretary is usually seen not taking notes in meetings. This refusal to document decisions taken by member clubs allows the EFA executive committee to ignore and/or seek to alter decisions of the club assembly. Moreover, the financial affairs of the Association lack transparency. Club representatives have been forced to repeatedly request the presentation of the 2010 auditor’s report, while the financial statement for the Bar-B-Que held in May of this year is yet to be presented to the General Council.
There is also the issue of EFA representatives on the TTFF executive committee not reporting to the member clubs which they represent. The relationship EFA member clubs should have to the business conducted by the TTFF executive committee is non-existent. Indeed, those who sit on the TTFF executive function independently of the EFA. Finally, and not to be ignored, is the aggressively dictatorial and even abusive manner in which club meetings are chaired by the president, Lennox Watson. It is for these reasons that many clubs simply refuse to attend meetings.
LACK OF DEVELOPMENT
Despite its motto, “To be the best association through the development of football”, the current EFA leadership has presided over the stagnation of the game in east Trinidad. The Association is plagued by:
- Poor scheduling and management of senior and youth competitions. FC Santa Rosa has repeatedly requested the development of a season calendar, to no avail.
-Stagnation of youth football, with age group competitions of two and three teams, in an Association that has twenty clubs. Youth competitions are seen as a burden to be completed with the minimum investment of resources and time.
-Failure to assist clubs in securing proper match facilities Lack of concern for technical matters, including coach education, and specifically, failure to access the new TTFF coach education programme.
- Failure to assist clubs in developing their internal administration, and specifically, failure to implement a club development seminar as agreed at the FIFA club development course held in Port of Spain in May of 2010.
-Poor management of the TTFF Centre of Excellence, which is affected by poor attendance among players.
POLITICAL ENTRENCHMENT
The removal of the current undemocratic EFA executive is as easy task as we wish to make it. All it requires is the conscious decision to cease our interminable but useless complaining about the state of affairs within the Association, to attend meetings, and to participate in the decision making process. In other words.
DEMOCRACY.
Our membership in the EFA should mean more than completing fixtures, competing against each other, and trying to win a title. We should be focused on developing the game so that ALL of us win – now and into the future. Our rivalry, our isolation from each other and our complacency have allowed the current executive committee to entrench itself over many years and to develop a sense of ownership of the Association, which is worsened by its obvious inability to lead the Association properly. This must end NOW.
ACTION PROGRAMME
As president, I pledge to implement the following within the EFA and to canvass for their introduction into the broader TTFF, where applicable:
- A limit of two terms in office for any elected EFA official
- Reporting to member clubs by EFA representatives on the TTFF executive committee
- Transparent and immediate accounting for any fundraising done on behalf of the Association Submission of an annual financial statement within the first quarter of the following year
- Monthly club meetings, including a standard agenda and proper minuting
- A season calendar to be agreed by all member clubs
- A revamped and expanded youth competition
- Assistance to clubs in securing proper match facilities
- A club development programme, to promote the ability of clubs to better manage their internal affairs
- Requirements for club and coach registration, to improve the standard of football within the Association
- A Finance and Marketing Committee to supervise the financial affairs of the Association
- A Media and Public Relations Committee, to promote the Association´s ability to communicate with the football and general public
- A Technical Committee, to supervise the technical affairs of the Association
- An EFA technical department, headed by a technical director, which will be responsible for player screening and development, and specifically supervision of the TTFF Centre of Excellence, as well as coach education
TIME FOR POSITIVE CHANGE
The time for change that will move our game forward is NOW. Football cannot grow under the leadership of the current clique for another term of office. They are mentally and spiritually divorced from the issues that concern football clubs because they do not belong to any, or have to fight the daily struggle for survival and progress like we do.
THIS ELECTION IS NOT ABOUT PERSONALITIES. IT IS ABOUT THE POLITICS OF DEMOCRACY, THE ESTABLISHMENT OF VIABLE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES, AND THE PLANNED PROGRESS OF OUR SPORT AND OUR ASSOCIATION.
The current executive understands it has alienated the clubs, and that it is now under challenge as never before. Do not be fooled when they shuffle the pack and play musical chairs in an effort to present a new face. Is same khaki pants. Do not be fooled by promises of good things to come if you vote for them. They had all the time in the world and failed to do ANYTHING. That is long time politics.
CONCLUSION
I CALL ON ALL EFA MEMBER CLUBS TO ENSURE THEIR FINANCIAL STANDING WITH THE ASSOCIATION AND TO ATTEND THE MEETING OF THURSDAY 25 AUGUST 2011. The meeting will be held at the Nelson Mandela Hall at the CONCACAF Centre of Excellence, from 7:00PM.
Attend the meeting and vote for the following candidates:
- Keith LOOK LOY (FC Santa Rosa) for President
- Roger GRIFFITH (Prisons FC) for Vice-President
- Frank RODRIGUEZ for Vice-President
- Anil Maraj (Carib FC) for Committee Member
- Farlon Thomas (La Horquetta Sporting Academy) for Committee Member
After all the disenchantment and grumbling, we now have the opportunity to actually make a
positive change.
THE TIME FOR GRUMBLING IS OVER. LET US SET ASIDE THE CLUB AND PERSONAL RIVALRIES.
COME OUT AND MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF OUR ASSOCIATION AND OUR GAME.
Keith Look Loy
Candidate for the EFA president
