THE continued tenure of Justin Latapy-George as General-Secretary of the Trinidad and Toba-o Football Association (TTFA) is being questioned and is tabled for discussion on Wednesday when a group of dissident TTFA Board members hold an ad-hoc board meeting from 5:30 pm at Couva.
TTFA board member Keith Look Loy has repeated calls for the resignations of president John-Williams and vice-president Ewing Davis, and now also thinks General Secretary Latapy-George should go as well - for his failure to immediately inform Board members of the September 11 resignation of TTFA second vice-president Joanne Salazar.
Latapy-George has offered an explanation by stating he was under orders of the TTFA president to withhold the information until further advised "All of them are complicit and, for that matter, Latapy as well because although he was claiming he was under orders not to reveal it, you also have your professional requirements and your constitutional requirements," Look Loy said.
"In my view and in other people's view, it isn't enough for him to simply say he was under orders. That is not good enough," Look Loy declared" (When) you are in charge of the administration of TTFA and if something like that comes up and happens, it is your duty and responsibility to communicate it to members."
Super League president Look Loy along with Karanjabari Williams (Northern FA), Joseph Taylor (TTFRA), Sharon Warrick (Women's League Football), Julia Baptiste (T&T Pro League) and Collin Partap (Central Football Association) have called a board meeting, despite the president John-Williams not initiating the discussion. "We are going to invite John-Williams, we going to invite Davis, we going to invite Latapy.....the whole executive will be invited. But if they don't come, the six members who called it have the right to proceed and we intend to do that."
The rebel Board Members have wowed to push on with deliberations but it is debatable whether decisions emerging from their Board meeting have any legal footing on its own, without being ratified at an AGM.
That is a big issue. Who knows if that is going to be another issue? But we fully intend to go ahead. I'm sure they are going to make that an issue," group spokesman Look Loy stated. "We believe that we have the authority."
The agenda also includes the discussion of issues surrounding the national women's football team; the dormant Under-17 and Under-20 men teams; issues surrounding the recent resignation of vice-president Joanne Salazar; and Look Loy's calls for John-Williams' resignation.
'We are allowed to do that under Article 35," Look Loy said. 'The article says that fifty per cent of the Members can call a meeting and the meeting has to be called within 10 days of the date in which they submitted their request"
He continued: 'The constitution states that if the president does not call it, then the members have the right to proceed without them."
Look Loy's meeting may face a hitch, however, with the TTFA president only recognising Warrick, Baptiste and Partap as provisional members, they having replaced other representatives after the Board was initially selected. Any decisions taken might not be considered legal.
"That is a debate. John-Williams and others have been saying that," Look Loy countered. "He (John-Williams) declaring people to be provision or part-representative. We challenge that. He doesn't have that right under the constitution."
He continued: "We have an annual general meeting on the 24th of November and we definitely will be addressing that (issue) in that meeting."
SOURCE: T&T Express