League unhappy with punishment for Papa Brown
In recent weeks we’ve departed from our traditional format of saving sports news for Monday, as crucial semi-pro basketball games rated expanded mid-week coverage. Tonight we do the same, this time for major news from the world of football. James Adderley reports.
James Adderley, Reporting
Some three months after an altercation at the MCC Grounds, the fallout continues to rumble through the rank and file of Belizean football even as we speak. On Friday the Football Federation of Belize Appeals Committee headed by engineer Jose “Pepe” Garcia, handed down the third attempt to sanction Andrew “Papa” Brown, the sponsor of the 2002 semi-pro football champion, Kulture Yabra. The biggest player in Belize City football was banned for six months from the game and fined a history-making fifteen thousand dollars. To make things worse, appeal after appeal seems to bring tougher sanctions.
Maito Perdomo, President, Belize Premier Football League
“The process goes first to our executive, we do the first disciplinary action, and then if the club does not agree with it, then they present it to the F.F.B.’s Disciplinary Committee. They sat on it and they suspended Mr. Brown for two years and five thousand dollars. The Kulture club did not agree with that, so they appealed to the Appeals Committee of the F.F.B., and after three months of waiting, this is what they came up with.”
President Perdomo could not hide his dismay with the decision, but it’s his assistant Albert Cattouse who told us why.
Albert Cattouse, Executive, Bze Premier Football League
“According to the statues of the Federation, article forty dash-dash, two: these disciplinary measures may be imposed on any official member, coach and player or person who has violated the rules, regulations, by-laws or standing orders of the Federation, who have failed in their duties to the Federation, or if in the opinion of the General Council the, Disciplinary Committee and the Executive Committee is guilty of misconduct, the General Council or a subcommittee appointed by it shall have the authority to imposed fines not exceeding five thousand dollars.”
Of course fifteen thousand dollars is a lot of money even for a man who owns the semi-pro championship team. So we’re off to another standoff. Mr. Perdomo puts it like this.
Maito Perdomo
“They have indicated that under no way they will pay the fifteen thousand dollars. And Mr. Brown has also indicated that if he has to do that, then he will cease sponsoring the Kulture team.”
James Adderley
“This is obviously a threat to the survival of the B.P.F.L.”
Maito Perdomo
“Well definitely, you’re talking about our champions. This is the national champions of the country and should represent in CONCACAF, if we do go to CONCACAF.”
How does Dr. Bertie Chimilio, President of the Football Federation of Belize fit into all of this?
Maito Perdomo
“When we spoke to the President, we asked him to give us the names of who were, first, on the Disciplinary Committee. We have never gotten who sits on that committee, who sits on the Appeals Committee, except for the chairman of that committee, which is Mr. Pepe Garcia, he signed the letter. Apparently there is something not transparent with the F.F.B., they don’t want to tell us who sits on these committees so that we could get a clear indication, or ask them what guidelines they’re using to impose certain sanctions.”
So what would be acceptable to the Belize Premier Football League?
Maito Perdomo
“If we go according to the F.F.B. statutes, the new statues that we’re working under since October last year, it would five thousand dollars would be the max and that would have been very reasonable for us. If you’re gonna appoint Mr. Pepe Garcia, in my mind and in all the years I’ve been in football, I haven’t seen him around football, I don’t know what experience he has. But if he is gonna sit down on a situation like this, he has to be briefed, he has to be told something.”
For President Perdomo, the B.P.F.L. season has always been the bottom line.
Maito Perdomo
“Now I just hope that we could resolve this matter and get football started. We’re supposed to start the end of August and every year just before the season starts something comes up. And I think we had a pretty good season last year, and we were looking forward to something even better this year since we cut down to eight teams.”
Of course football fans, we can only ask you to stay tuned because the fallout in Belizean football from this particular situation, will continue. I’m James Adderley reporting for News 5.
Thank you, James Adderley.
