Football Federation defends actions
They say that every story has two sides… that is at least two sides. Tonight News 5’s James Adderley offers more on a controversy in the sporting world that figures to be around for a while.
James Adderley, Reporting
The art of football features a frenzy of offensives and counter offensives; so then life must imitate art, at least that’s the look we keep getting from boardrooms of football’s power here in Belize. Yesterday President Maito Perdomo and the Belize Premier Football League launched the first salvo as they seceded from the Football Federation of Belize promising not to return until major re-structuring was undertaken by this august body.
Today Dr. Bertie Chimilio, President, of the F.F.B. mounts the contragolpe.
Dr. Bertie Chimilio, President, F.F.B.
“We received the correspondence yesterday. I was out of town for the weekend, and the office called me, I went in there and I saw the official correspondence that they had decided to withdraw from the Football Federation of Belize and it’s a very lamentable situation. I believe that the state of football, where we are, with our goal project coming on stream, with our strategic planning in the pipeline, it’s sad, this is a very sad day for us. Nevertheless, like life you’ve got to bounce back. We have a job to do, I’ll be calling an emergency Executive Committee meeting tonight and we will have a communiqué for the press tomorrow, we’ll have something to say to the general public.”
James Adderley
“A closer look at the document released by the B.P.F.L. seems to indicate that there’s no room for compromise this time. There have been many flare-ups, but apparently, unless the F.F.B. is made to change, according to this missive, there will be no rapprochement. In this case, to be hypothetical, is the future of the F.F.B. in balance against the wishes of the B.P.F.L.?”
Dr. Bertie Chimilio
“The F.F.B. here is mandated. We as the executive, we’re mandated to run, control, organise, supervise football countrywide. Nothing will happen to the federation, we know that we’re gonna meet tonight, but football will play, at any level football will play. We’ll come up with a communiqué and tomorrow the folks in Belize will realise that the Football Federation of Belize ain’t going no where. The Football Federation of Belize is here to stay, we’re here to organise football, and I’m pretty sure that our friends at the B.P.F.L. will think over their positions and realise that no man is an island in this sport and they will sit down and talk with us and let us know what their gripes are and we could take it from there.”
James Adderley
“After your re-election there certainly was a period of good relations with the B.P.F.L. Apparently the Andrew Brown incident seems to have started a downslide in the relationship that has led to this particular fallout.”
Dr. Bertie Chimilio
“Obvisouly after the elections last year we thought that everything was cool. A lot of the stuff that they wrote in their press release are the stuff you and I are familiar with from 1999, from 2000. So it’s just the same old thing coming up back where people believe that they should be leading and not following. And that’s not the name of game, they need to know what is their position in the federation.”
So folks, we’re witnessing another football war. What, episode five? Nevertheless, Tonight the F.F.B. convenes to rule on the B.P.F.L. breakaway and of course, Channel 5 keeps you updated. I am James Adderley, reporting for News 5.
