A bank overdraft, in excess of $250,000 has been gaining the attention of the new Northern Football Association (NFA) executive, being led by former national goalkeeper and coach Ross Russell.
Russell who admitted that his first order of business in his new capacity will be to revive a Youth League which has been inactive for the past years, refused to comment, saying he was not in a position to say anything on the matter just yet, but will deal with it when information comes before them.
"We have to get the books in order, we have to receive the hand-over properly, but we are not in a position to say anything about how the account is, as we are now attempting to do an audit, so saying something now will be a bit too rushed because these things are serious," Russell told Guardian Media Sports on Thursday.
Russell's team recently hired an accountant to inspect the books, a few days before an executive meeting is held on January 14, at which time a decision will be taken on how they intend to investigate the matter.
Guardian Media Sports undertsands that the clubs left the meeting dissatisfied after the presentation of the audited accounts was made on December 28, the day the long-awaited Annual General Meeting (AGM) and Elections of the new executive were held, with the overdraft compounding an already aggravated situation caused by the previous administration's inability to pay out prize monies for the past two years.
Russell, 53, a former Defence Force standout, did not want to reveal who the accountant is, but whoever it is, will have an opening task of delivering news about the association's accounts, amid scrutiny by clubs and other officials.
Russell, a Diego Martin native said, "We as a Board can't truthfully say if it's an overdraft or if it is a plus, so we don't really want to talk pertaining to the account right now. We got a report and we will be looking into the report, and when we get a synopsis of the entire thing we will make a press release and you will get the information you are asking for."
Previous president Anthony Harford, the long-serving sports administrator, when contacted said he will meet with the executive on Monday to iron out their concerns.
However, the membership opted to accept it, only on the basis that an accountant would explain what it meant at a later time, thereby giving the knowledge to make a firm decision, said Derek Edwards, the Petit Valley Diego Martin United manager explained.
Russell was elected unopposed after Richard Piper, the other candidate, who had filed nomination papers opted before the meeting. The other members of his slate, however, Anthony 'Dada' Wickham and Rodney Stowe (vice presidents), Michael Thomas and Nevick Denoon (assistant secretaries), and the pair of Dexter Harris and Kareem Paul as the ordinary members.