‘Never waste a good crisis’

CHAIR OF the Caribbean Association of National Olympic Committees’ Marketing Commission, Dr Nelson Stokes, said that an ongoing Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) saga should be a lesson for sports administrations.

A JFF election, scheduled for January 14 earlier this month, was postponed after the Supreme Court granted an injunction to Beach Soccer Jamaica (BSJ).

BSJ president Pat Garel contended that her administration should be allowed to take part in the election but wasn’t allowed to in favour of another entity with similar function, which was formed just to disenfranchise hers.

According to JFF president Michael Ricketts, the legal proceedings have caught the attention of football’s world governing body, FIFA, which has requested all documents related to the matter.

Prior to that, Supreme Court Judge Andrea Thomas granted an injunction to BSJ, barring the holding of the election, with the entities set to return to court on February 9, where the various sides of the argument are to be heard.

Garel contends in the application which was filed this week that, in 2022, the respondent, JFF, promulgated a new constitution and Article 12 stipulates that Beach Soccer Jamaica is one of the affiliates under pillar 3 of the constitution.

By virtue of that promulgation under Article 12, Beach Soccer Jamaica became a member of the JFF and was so treated.

Subsequent to the promulgation of the constitution, Garel said recognition was given to BSJ when the respondent invited BSJ to send three representatives to the congress on September 24 last year, which is reflected in the minutes of the JFF.

Since the convening of that congress, the respondent has always treated the applicant as the recognised entity representing beach football in Jamaica, Garel said.

She further stated that she has always been the president of BSJ, which has been recognised by Beach Soccer Worldwide, an affiliate of FIFA.

ONGOING COMMUNICATION

She said she has been in communication with the JFF concerning the BSJ’s participation in the upcoming election.

However, she disclosed that she was informed that another body, subsequently created in October last year under the name Beach Football Association of Jamaica, co-chaired by a vice-president of the JFF, Bruce Gaynor, and another director of JFF, Patrick Malcolm, was given recognition by the JFF to represent beach football in Jamaica and to have voting rights.

It is believed that BSJ represents an opposition to the incumbent Ricketts’ bid for a return to the presidency of the JFF.

Stokes believes that the debacle could prove to be a lesson for not just the JFF, but for all sporting bodies in Jamaica.

“There is a saying that goes, ‘One should never waste a good crisis’, and I think what is going on in the JFF is a bit of a crisis,” he explained.

“I think we should use the opportunity to say ‘how do we address issues in the democratic elections at the sports administration level?’. This is not the first elections where there have been controversies, and I think we should use this opportunity, not to target the JFF, but to collectively, as a country, say these are the rules we’ve set for sports elections, and to make sure that we understand that and agree on those rules.”

Stokes said that, to go forward, there has to be more clarity and transparency for our national sporting administrations, to ensure that democratic elections are conducted in a professional and orderly manner.

“We’ve come a long way as a country and I get the sense that our national elections should not be held better than sporting elections of different organisations. I think we need to lift the bar and have some transparency, and I think it will work to the benefit of sport in general, that we can have legitimate elections at the leadership level and it will set a tone of playing by the rules in governance.”

Stokes argued that, to achieve this, more attention should be placed on sporting governance, to ensure that the rules regarding sporting elections are being followed to the letter.

“We should insist on playing by the rules on the field of sports. We need those rules in administration and I’m trying to start that conversation, to be clear on what those rules should be and who should be the oversight and the electoral commission for Jamaican sporting associations, and that remains an open question.”

Stokes, a four-time Olympian, was speaking at a G.C. Foster College sports symposium on Wednesday, where he implored guests to change their attitude towards sports.

“The crux of my argument was that we need to move past thinking of sport as something that’s nice to do, and as a real profession,” Stokes had said.