President of FC Santa Rosa and candidate for presidency of the Eastern Football Association (EFA) Keith Look Loy has said that he is prepared to go to court in the event that the EFA fails to respond to his request to reconvene the Annual General Meeting (AGM), which he said was conducted in an unlawful manner.
Speaking at a press conference at the LOC Room, Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo, Look Loy said that the meeting resulted in incumbent officers returning to office unopposed on the basis of a claim by Wayne Riley, a returning officer appointed by TTFF, that FC Santa Rosa had been “improperly seconded and, therefore, ineligible to contest the election.”
Riley, according to Look Loy, claimed that he held a letter signed by an unauthorised person representing the Prisons Sports Club, Charmaine Johnson seconding the nomination, making it ineligible. Look Loy said that Riley went on to declare at the meeting’s end that the slate of candidates comprising the incumbent officers, to be unopposed and returned to office for the new two-year term.
He said, “despite a protest of the affected candidates, the representative of the Prisons Sports Club and other clubs present, Riley declared his decision and left the meeting, which the outgoing EFA president, Lennox Watson, promptly closed and left.”
Look Loy said that following the meeting, 13 of the 17 clubs comprising the EFA provided signatures with an attached hand written letter requesting an election of officers and delivered it to the EFA and the TTFF, but this has not since been addressed.
The clubs included: FC Maloney, Creek Sports and Cultural Club, Upper Santa Cruz, Pinto United, La Horquetta Sporting Academy, Barataria Ball Players, Malabar FC, St John’s United, Tunapuna Titans, WASA FC, Carib FC and Prisons Sports Club and FC Santa Rosa.
FC Santa Rosa nominated the following persons, under the leadership of Look Loy for the executive posts within the EFA: Roger Griffith and Frank Rodriguez for vice-president, and Anil Maraj and Farlon Thomas for committee members. The posts were seconded by the Prisons Sports Club as signed by wife of Look Loy, Cathy Ann Look Loy of FC Santa Rosa, and Sterling Stewart of the Prisons Sports Club in a letter to the secretariat of the EFA, Neville Ferguson.
In a follow up letter to the EFA, president of the Prisons Sports Club John Rougier, advised that “a letter purported to be issued by the secretary of the Trinidad and Tobago Prisons Service Sports and Recreation Club dated August 25th 2011 was unauthorised, unilateral and done without the approval and consent of the executive body of the club.” “In the circumstance, that letter is null, void, ultra vires and has no legal standing.”
The letter went on to state that it was the formal position of the Prisons Sports Club to support and second the nomination of Look Loy and his candidates for the respective positions within the EFA. Look Loy then advised that several requests were made for the letter on which Riley’s decision was based.
He said the requests have been ignored. In a strongly worded statement, Look Loy said that “It is clear that the EFA and TTFFA intend to frustrate those who would challenge their undemocratic handling of this matter by ignoring them, and to have any challenge to the illegitimate reinstallation of the incumbent regime die a natural death.”
He said: “It has been reported to us by various clubs that members of the unconstitutional regime that wishes to hold on to power have been advising them that the election is a dead issue, that FC Santa Rosa and Prisons Sports Club fraudulently proposed the slate of candidates which I head, and that they are back in power for another two years.” He said that the following initiatives have been undertaken to deal with the issue.
• The retention of legal counsel, Mr Samuel Saunders, Attorney-at-Law.
• The issuance of a legal letter to the EFA demanding the reconvening of the 2011 AGM and the holding of the aborted election within seven days, that is, by September 14, 2011.
• Preparation for referral of the matter to, a) arbitration, as mandated by the EFA Constitution, b) to FIFA, if necessary, and finally c) to the civil courts of T&T.
The legal letter issued by attorney Saunders has since been delivered to the Trinidad Guardian. The letter indicates that the attorney has been instructed that the five persons as previously mentioned have nominated as candidates for the respective offices within the EFA.
It also indicates that the candidates have been seconded by the Prisons Club. The letter also indicates that as instructed that, “at the AGM of the EFA held on the 28th day of August, 2011, one Mr Wayne Riley (purportedly appointed by the TTFF) wrongfully and contrary to the EFA’s constitution, presided over the AGM as presiding officer. The letter indicated as instructed, the said person, Riley, who was purportedly appointed by the TTFF, presiding over the AGM as presiding officer, did so wrongfully and contrary to the EFA’s constitution.
The letter went on to state that “on the basis of a letter received from one Charmaine Johnson (who purported to be the Secretary of the T&T Prisons Service) in which she indicated that the above club did not second the nomination of the candidates proposed by our clients, declared the said candidates nominations invalid and thereafter proceeded to declare that the other slate of candidates was elected unopposed.”
Saunders was informed that the letter was never circulated to members of the EFA nor to those present at the AGM and that Riley unlawfully refused a request to allow the AGM to deal with the issue of Charmaine Johnson’s letter and its impact on the validity of the secondment of the candidates proposed by Saunders’ clients.
The lawyer’s letter states that: “Having regard to the above, we are of the opinion that the AGM held on the 28th day of August, 2011 was incomplete and the officers, who were declared elected as unopposed, have not been duly elected in accordance with the provisions of the constitution.”
The AGM has thus been requested to reconvene within seven days thereof to deal with the validity of the nominations of the candidates proposed by the clients and to complete the election of officers. Saunders said that his clients were willing to resolve the matter amicably without recourse to the courts.
The matter rests squarely with the TTFF and EFA, and on their willingness to act in accordance with the most basic principles of democracy,” Look Loy said.
In his original letter distributed to all EFA members dated August 11, Look Loy proposed his intention to run as a candidate for presidency of the EFA highlighting a “lack of democracy and transparency,” within the association as his major concern. He said; “Over the course of the last two years, I have represented FC Santa Rosa in a General Council of the EFA, ie the assembly of clubs.
During that time, I have been witness to, and resisted, the consistent attempt of the current leadership, under president Lennox Watson and general secretary Neville Ferguson, to maintain a culture of personal dictatorship and abuse of member clubs, a culture lacking in democracy and transparency,” his proposal stated. He also insisted a “lack of development” and “political entrenchment” as the essential reasons for a need for change within the EFA,