Football Federation sues Government
The ongoing dispute in football has now entered the legal realm as this morning, the Football Federation of Belize filed a suit in the Belize Supreme Court against the National Sports Council. A release put out by the F.F.B. states, “The suit asks for judicial review in the form of an order quashing the January twenty-second, 2004 decision of the N.S.C. to cancel the registration of the F.F.B. as a sporting organization. The suit also asks for an injunction to restrain the N.S.C. from continuing to deny the F.F.B. use of the publicly owned football fields in the country.” The F.F.B. has retained the services of attorney Dean Barrow, who maintains that the actions of the National Sports Council did not follow the procedures set out in the Sports Act, such as giving the F.F.B. proper notice.
Dean Barrow, Representing F.F.B. in Supreme Court Suit
“The F.F.B. was never told by the Sports Council prior to the cancellation of its registration that it was being charged with anything. It was never notified that it was in violation of any Sports Council rules or requirements, and it was never given any opportunity to appear before the Sports Council to say no, what you are alleging against us is simply not true. So the F.F.B., I think, has an excellent case to take to court. The N.S.C. is a public body. It operates under the terms of the Sports Act. It controls public property being the football facilities. It can’t impose this kind of a sanction on a legitimate sporting organisation and deny the organisation use of public property, being the football fields, without ever having properly accused the F.F.B. of violations under the act, and without having given the F.F.B. an opportunity to make representations to the N.S.C. on any supposed violations.”
When we contacted Executive Director of the National Sports Council Clara Cuellar, she told News 5 this evening that they were not aware of the F.F.B.’s actions in the Supreme Court and were in fact waiting for a response to a letter written to the F.F.B. to discuss their decertification. According to Cuellar, the F.F.B.’s last correspondence stated that they had passed on the information to their international partners and indicated a response would be forthcoming. The N.S.C. says the F.F.B. has until the twenty-first of February to respond to that letter. Although the future of Belize’s international football appears doomed, attorney Barrow says his clients have a solution.
Dean Barrow
“What FIFA and CONCACAF, FIFA’s regional affiliate, has been saying is that the B.P.F.L. needs to come back into the organisation first, into the F.F.B. When it does that, then its grievances will be heard and determined by FIFA in the context of the governing FIFA statues. But you can’t stay outside the organisation and say to FIFA, we want you to sanction the F.F.B. FIFA says, but you are no longer a member. We can’t recognise you, so we can’t act on your complaint. If you come back in, even if you can back in under protest saying you are still dissatisfied with certain things, then as a member in good standing of the F.F.B and therefore of FIFA, you can appeal to us as the overall governing body to deal with your complaints against the executive of the F.F.B. or perhaps even the general assembly of the F.F.B., but you must come back in first. And that seems to be practically a position of good sense. How is FIFA to mediate between the B.P.F.L. and F.F.B. if B.P.F.L. insists that we’re not any longer a part of F.F.B. and we’re not bound by F.F.B. rules and regulations, which are in turn FIFA rules and regulations.”
The F.F.B. was officially decertified by the National Sports Council on January twenty-second, 2004, after the N.S.C. concluded that the football organisation refused to cooperate on matters the government had laid on the table during discussions. The F.F.B.’s privileges to use equipment and fields were revoked and specific documents such as audited financial statements were to be handed in within thirty days.
