Sports Commentary: The Grenada Football Association is on a suicide mission
By Marcia Braveboy, Caribbean News Now.
The Jack Kevorkian Assisted Suicide Plan
The destruction of the very essence of association football in Grenada since it was formed in 1924 entered its preparatory stage on July 2, 2016, when 18 clubs voted to strip 30 of the 40 clubs of their direct voting right; their direct right to attend Grenada Football Association (GFA) meetings; their direct right to choose their GFA executive; their direct right to attend general council meetings and many more enshrined rights.
In fact, they also illegally terminated themselves from membership of the GFA by accepting a new and doctored GFA statute; a statute that removed the basic rights and privileges of playing GFA football from 30 clubs – in effect removing them from direct representation and association with GFA.
Henceforth these 30 clubs will be known as indirect members of the GFA or “stakeholders” which is the new jargon.
All this in the absence of a quorum. A quorum would have been 50%+1 or 21 voting members as the GFA statutes dictate.
This feat was achieved by a magnificent form of co-coercion by GFA executive in getting a minority of clubs to breach the GFA statutes by:
1. Voting for a document that was not completed;
2. Voting for a document that was not thoroughly examined by the body;
3. Allowing themselves to be blindsided into voting for a date of implementation long before a proper and legal meeting could be held as dictated by the GFA statutes.
What was frightening about the whole exercise is that, in this the 21st century, black Caribbean men – an entirely black management group – would take away the vote from their own and strip them of all their rights, including membership; all under the watchful eyes of two European-Swiss representatives of FIFA.
What a monumental travesty of epic proportions!
The old Colonial Trick
According to Article 17.1 of the GFA statutes, termination of membership means loss of membership of GFA, which entails loss of rights and the obligations associated with GFA member status.
As a result of this disenfranchisement of these clubs, the ten obligations as established within the statutes when they were members will no more be enforceable by the GFA.
Realizing this and in order to keep these clubs as football surrogates, the GFA executive/CONCACAF/FIFA demanded that these clubs be “licensed” via a 'club licensing program' under penalty of non-participation in association competitions.
The vice president is assiduously and frenetically pursuing this program, accompanied by not so subtle threats to club football in Grenada.
A neat way of keeping the clubs under the laws of GFA, while removing their right to vote and any direct say in the affairs of the GFA.
Much like the European colonialists did with our nutmeg, cocoa and banana farmers.
They own and control the means of production without direct participation by the producer and owner of the product.
A vile and insidious act by the GFA executive committee.
It seems that colonialism with a liberal touch of fascism is back in Grenada through the Grenada Football Association; and maybe the Swiss have found willing house slaves in Grenada, as they seek to dismantle this “one man one vote” thing of these Caribbean football upstarts.
Ironically, even the bastion of colonialism repudiated this attempt by the European Parliament to do exactly what is now being done to Grenada football – “legislation without representation” – the British called it BREXIT!
The “one man one vote” concept goes way back to Julian Fedon against the French, followed up by Eric Gairy and the granting of “adult suffrage” from the British, up to the Bishop era of “people's participation” in their governance.
What a direct and utter disregard for our history and our culture, not to mention the total disregard for GFA statutes, which have governed the GFA since 1924 when it was created when football-playing clubs came together as an associative organization with participation from all.
Denial of FAP Aid for Clubs
Followers of the GFA over the past six years have been taking note of the derisive and dismissive disregard the executive has for the general council club-representatives.
Clubs have been clamoring over the past six years for a fair share of the annual FAP funds sent by FIFA in order to offset their uniforms and transportation costs during the competition season.
Repeated promises were made with a plan for the Club Assistance Program (CAP) and the Parish Assistance Program (PAP).
Both programs were never funded; instead clubs saw increased spending on personnel and material peripheral to actual playing of club football in the nation.
Continuously bad governance reflected in debilitating decisions, relative to the expenditure of GFA funds, have resulted in the GFA having a debt of some $1.5 million.
This mission is accomplished – administrative suicide!
Financial Mismanagement?
For example, expenditure on the Women's National Team was authorized with no funds in the coffers and a vague promissory note from CONCACAF indicated by the president, and saw a ratcheted-up spending spree by the GFA executive.
The erection of a building at the Queen's Park to house the home of the GFA is nothing more than grandiosity espoused by the president; especially with clubs development and the football standard needing to be addressed.
So a home for GFA is built – in the same area as two sporting stadiums; one for cricket and the other dedicated to football and athletics; with both having more than 30 to 40 spaces available to the GFA for its home and offices.
Another bad decision; as clearly cost of maintenance of the GFA home as against occupying an already existing stadium, purposely built for football, complete with lights et al, was never considered by the GFA executive.
God forbid, another monthly and annual drain on the GFA operational funds; and if one were to guess the president's next move, it would be to employ a large staff, which would complement this new two-story building.
Another suicide mission in the making! Economic suicide!
Thirty Clubs Terminated from GFA
With names like Hampshire United, Mt Rich FC, Paradise FC, Queens Park Rangers, St John's Sports Club, Willis Youths, St Andrew's Football League, Tempe All Blacks, which spell out either village football clubs or parish football clubs; it would take an extreme narcissist with a sick delusion of grandeur to deny that the nemesis of football in Grenada is not villages and/or parishes – but conferences!
The GFA executive soundly rejects the notion of village football or parish football… in fact as far as the new GFA statute declares (the one in which the Cheney Joseph-led executive committee used the Jack Kevorkian technique – assisted suicide – on General Council) the Conference is the start of football recognition by the GFA as far as existing clubs are now concerned.
The new statutes do not, apart from the Premier League, recognize any of the previously existing 30 clubs as they are no more members of GFA, period, and do not have a direct vote.
It must be noted that, in the last elections held, the president and the vice president were elected by these same clubs.
The pledge by these two was to develop club football and to represent these clubs to the best of their ability.
What a double-cross by these two GFA executive members!
These clubs have been summarily stripped of their GFA membership, their votes taken away from them and then cast into football oblivion by these same executive members.
A masterfully executed assisted suicide on 30 clubs!
Breaching the Statutes
Ignoring the GFA 2010 statutes has become a regular phenomenon of the GFA executive.
The withholding of clubs’ and individuals’ rights by wanton disregard has played itself out time and again.
Former general-secretary Victor Daniel was unceremoniously fired by the executive at the urging of its president. The then vice-president Rado Griffith, who was absent when the decision was made, urged the executive to give Mr Daniel due process by allowing him to be heard.
True to form, the executive refused, triggering heated exchanges that spilled out of the meeting room and into the yard, finally ending in an assault between the president and vice-president.
The matter is still being heard in the law courts of Grenada.
Vice-president Radio Griffith himself fell prey to this constitutional shenanigan led by the president, which saw him duped out of the legal post of vice-president and replaced by the president's hand-pick, Allan James, a career police officer.
Mr Daniel and the GFA are now in court over remuneration for his tenure.
Following the dismissal of Victor Daniel as general-secretary, the GFA executive led by the president unleashed a two year dismissal onslaught on no less than seven GFA general-secretaries, including a female; searching for that someone who will be palatable to their president.
What is very instructive is the manner in which many of the victims vacated the office and the vitriolic letters that followed, taking aim at the apparent dictatorial attitude of the president.
These make interesting reading and give a serious insight into the manipulative excellence of the GFA executive led by the president.
The most glaring breach of the statutes by the GFA executive was the withholding of the “right to be heard” from GBSS FC.
This resulted in a serious disruption of Grenada football and finally the general council had to force the GFA executive to implement Art. 63 of the GFA statutes on arbitration.
The Final Solution
When egos become larger than life and extreme narcissism is added, what comes out of this human laboratory is a volatile mix that can easily turn into a suicide bomb unbeknownst to the human mind to which the bomb is strapped.
The GFA recently took on the mantle of “a final solution” when 18 out of 40 clubs voted for the removal of 30 of them as members of this sporting organization at an illegal extraordinary general council meeting.
Ironically, the clubs also voted in two new members viz: the Referees Association and the Coaches Association, who although are necessary to the playing of the game, do not kick a ball competitively within the GFA.
The meeting was illegal for the following reasons:
a. Clubs had already voted to abandon any meeting that could not show a quorum one hour after the scheduled time.
Twenty-one members had to be present and eligible to vote in order to form a quorum.
The meeting started two and a half hours after the scheduled time and members present and who were eligible to vote numbered 19.
A quorum was never established, thus the meeting, according to the GFA statutes, was not a legal one.
b. Voting took place on two matters, with both results showing that only 19 legal members voted, in direct violation of Art. 32.2 and 3 of the existing GFA statutes.
c. The gfa Statute spells out in detail in Art. 36 the format to be followed in the event of “...any proposal to amend the statutes of the GFA...” and is part of an annual general meeting agenda.
All the above were deliberately ignored by the Joseph-led executive committee in a Kevorkian style induced suicide on the 19 members of the GFA general council who were present that day.
The GFA comprises 40 clubs.
If the president and GFA executive continues upholding this illegal extraordinary council meeting and the removal of the majority of clubs from the membership of the GFA, then all is lost and the GFA will not be representative of football players in Grenada; and the original concept of democratic participation and one club one vote established since 1924 will die.
The football clubs will have to find an alternative or subject themselves to the extermination oven of the GFA – which is hell bent on removing clubs from association football as their 'Final Solution'.
