Chimilio re-elected to football post
Good evening, I’m James Adderley and you’re on board our first post-Iris edition of Sports Monday. On Monday, we were chased by that vicious little hurricane that hurt our nation deeply. But as all Belizeans know, the show must go on–all praises to Jehovah.
Now to the sports business at hand. For Dr. Bertie Chimilio, the show will go on for at least another four years as on Saturday at the Marina Towers in Belize City, he defied the odds to win re-election as President of the Football Federation of Belize. Recently Dr. Chimilio found himself under fire from demonstrations, street protests and even defections from inside the BNFA, executive itself, and was eventually forced to a compromise and had to call early elections.
Legal moves by social activist Murphy Mclaren also put pressure on Dr. Chimilio to change the name of the Belize National Football Association to the Football Federation of Belize.
Today, however, the good doctor is being challenged by local businessman and former semi-pro basketball commissioner, Daniel Fabro. Of course by the time the media is allowed inside, the eight delegates had already returned Dr. Chimilio in a five-three vote, which probably explains the obvious difference in body language both of both men. Corozal, Orange Walk, Belmopan, Stann Creek and Toledo had backed the slate led by the incumbent, while the Belize District, Cayo and the Belize Football League voted for Fabro and company.
The President in his first official comment had this to say:
Dr. Bertie Chimilio, President, F.F.B.
“The time has come for us to put aside differences. The two years or three years or the unconstitutionality is now over.”
In his very first interview for his second term, Dr. Bertie Chimilio have thanks to football.
Dr. Bertie Chimilio
“Elections are elections, and you do your campaigning, you go around and people promise to vote for you, but it’s not over till it’s over. Today it’s over and thank God that football won and I’m representing football, but I’m, saying the victory here is football.”
As to his critics who accused Dr. Chimilio of not helping the development of the sport on the field of play, he had this to say:
Dr. Bertie Chimilio
“I pledge that in a next for years we should have very good football, especially at the youth level. That’s the commitment of this committee, that’s the commitment of everyone as you heard today; youth football, youth football.”
Meanwhile, Chimilio’s slate features the first female to sit on a national football executive, Gina Zabaneh of Sagitun Independence.
Gina Zabaneh, Executive Member, F.F.B.
“It’s a very big task because here in Belize, we don’t’ seem to be getting the support we need from the media, from the private sector, from the public sector. We really need to boost it up and show them that women can play ball just as well as the men.”
Daniel Fabro might have conceded the victory to Dr. Chimilio, but not the fight.
Daniel Fabro, Defeated Candidate
“Democracy in the sense that the people voted, but I’m not really disappointed. It did not come as a surprise. I think if you were in the room, even the way the chalkboard was ruled up and set out, it had the five people he knew was on his side and the three, which were on my side. But we must be mature about it and we must move on from here.”
Will the love fest in the Football Federation of Belize be an overnight sensation or a true relationship is left to time. We congratulate the new executive, whose term of expires in the year 2006.
In boxing news, Michael Soberanis of Belize made his international boxing debut Thursday night in the United States with a unanimous victory over Choctaw Warrior, Jonathon Nelson of Oklahoma City in a super middleweight bout. Soberanis shook his man in the early rounds but had to hang on in the later rounds for the big W. Hey, he’s a Belizean and he certainly has our support.
In the meantime, we have to inform you that the BFL semi-pro football season, which was scheduled to kick off the thirteenth and fourteenth of October, this weekend has been postponed. As soon as the new date is released, we certainly will pass it on.
Let’s get back to building this nation, Belize. That’s it. Jah over all, I’m James Adderley.
