TT Super League and FC Santa Rosa president Keith Look Loy has submitted a proposal to TT Football Association (TTFA) general secretary Justin Latapy-George to include a motion for the dismissal of TTFA president David John-Williams in the agenda for the upcoming TTFA annual general meeting (AGM).
Look Loy, in his capacity as FC Santa Rosa president, submitted the proposal to Latapy-George via email on Friday ahead of the AGM, which according to the TTFA constitution, will have to be scheduled for November or before.
Look Loy highlighted Article 28 in the new TTFA Constitution which notes: “The general secretary shall draw up the agenda based on proposals from the board of directors and the members. Any proposal that a member wishes to submit to the general meeting shall be sent to the general secretariat in writing, with a brief explanation, at least 40 days before the date of the AGM.”
The proposal, therefore, is expected to be tabled at the 2018 AGM unless it is called prior to October 17.
He provided examples of ways in which he believes “David John-Williams, has presided over...the calamitous deterioration of our football.” A summary of the examples he provided are as follows:
“Unilateral decision making by the President”; “steady deterioration of TTFA’s national teams’ programme”; “cronyism”; “mismanagement of TTFA’s finances”; “frivolous accumulation of law suits”; “lack of transparency in administrative and financial matters”; “deterioration of league football”; and “international shame brought about our country by the attempt to blame the US embassy for the debacle of our women’s U-15 team being withdrawn from the CONCACAF tournament.”
Look Loy also quoted Article 38 of the constitution which addresses the dismissal of a person or body.
The article states: “The general meeting may dismiss a person or a member of a body. The board of directors may place the dismissal of a person or a member of a body on the agenda for the general meeting. The board of directors may also dismiss a person or a member of a body provisionally. Any board of directors member may submit a proposal to place such a motion for dismissal on the agenda of the board of directors or general meeting.”
The article also notes that the motion must be justified; the person or body in question has the right to defend himself or herself; the motion for dismissal shall be decided by means of secret ballot.
A three-quarter majority of the valid votes is requires for the motion to be passed and if successful, according to the constitution, “the person or body dismissed (provisionally) is relieved of his or its functions with immediate effect.”
Look Loy, in an interview with Newsday yesterday said he is unsure what to expect when the motion is raised.
“I do this knowing that it can succeed or it could fail but that’s not my point. I do this for two reasons. One, is that they have to be challenged because we cannot afford another year of this nonsense. And secondly, I want everybody to see who is who in TTFA. Let us see who are the forces aligned to oppose this rut in the TTFA and those who are aligned to support it.”
Drawing reference to the successful no-confidence vote against then Eastern Football Association (EFA) president Linus Sanchez on Thursday, Look Loy said, “They (the clubs) had enough. They haven’t kicked a ball for the season.”
“He has people who have voted in the important issues in the TTFA like board members who are supporting this...These people are encouraging, shielding John-Williams in his behaviour. I am exposing it and I want to expose it now.”
Less than two weeks ago, Look Loy filed a application for judicial review in the high court to compel John-Williams to provide documentation on the TTFA’s “home of football” project.