Sports Council pushes football settlement
Coming off a humiliating eighteen-nil loss to Guatemala, there is no dispute that the on-going battle between the Football Federation of Belize and the Belize Premier Football League has turned the Jewel into the joke of the football world. With virtually every top player in Belize participating in the B.P.F.L. tournament, and therefore ineligible to play in any FIFA sanctioned matches, the nation is certainly not putting its best feet forward. Recently, Prime Minister Said Musa, who is also minister responsible for sports, met with key representatives of both organisations to implore them to work out a solution. Today in Belize City the National Sports Council claims it was prepared to referee a meeting that promised to provide the first major breakthrough in the two and a half year old grudge-match. However, one of the teams failed to show up for the big game.
David Fonseca, President, National Sports Council
“A letter was sent to both parties. As you are aware, physically, Mr. Perdomo and his team is here from the B.P.F.L. Dr. Chimilio and the F.F.B. again decided that they won’t be here. Only yesterday evening I got a letter from him saying that he would not be able to make the meeting because he will not be in the country because he is on football business. What that means, I have no idea. And also that his other members, his other “competent members”, as he says in his letter, had prior commitments for today. So they did not show for our meeting; the meeting continued.”
“The proposed agreement given to B.P.F.L. will be sent to the F.F.B. later today. A timeline has been set for two weeks from today for both parties to consider and make suggestions, recommendations to the agreement so that in two weeks time we can meet again and sign off on this agreement.”
It is not clear just how negotiable the draft agreement is, but it does inject the Sports Council as a major overseer of the reconciliation process and calls for both the league and federation to abide by rigorous standards of financial accountability that we can only wish that government would enforce on itself. In the end, the pact seeks the reinstatement of all B.P.F.L. teams, players, and referees with the league agreeing to respect the two-year term of the present F.F.B. executive. Sports Council Chairman David Fonseca intimated that if the F.F.B. refuses to participate in this latest attempt at resolving the dispute, drastic action may be taken. However, when pressed for details of what that may involve, Fonseca said he would address that situation in two weeks time, if necessary.
