President locks down St James FA office

Adrian Frater, News Editor

WESTERN BUREAU:

Simmering tension within the ranks of the St James Football Association (STJFA) came to a head yesterday when the association's president, Texchus Nembhard, angrily brought activities at the association's office to an abrupt halt, locking up the office and taking possession of the keys.

"A lot of foolishness is happening in our football and it must stop now," said Nembhard, in the presence of affiliates, who had turned up at the office to conduct business. "It is clear that my authority and the authority of the board is being disregarded, and I will not stand for it."

Things came to a head shortly before noon yesterday when Nembhard, two of his vice-presidents - Bryan Miller and David Watt; and council member Gregory Daley, turned up for a meeting which was called to address concerns regarding accountability, which were uncovered in a recent probe carried out by Miller, and were told that the meeting had been cancelled.

"Nobody has any such authority to cancel the meeting," said Nembhard. "The affiliates asked us to probe an issue and we have done so ... This meeting is to examine those findings, but it is clear that somebody doesn't want this meeting to happen."

At last November's annual general meeting, the FA affiliates rejected the association's finances and raised concerns about other aspects of the board's operation.

Miller, who was among a group of new members elected, was mandated to investigate the concerns raised.

At the conclusion of his probe, Miller released a damning statement to the media, stating that while he wasn't accusing anyone of financial misconduct, he had found evidence of a lack of proper accountability within the operations of the association.

Miller, whose revelation to the media angered some board members, also stated that he had found discrepancies in regards to an arrangement in which board members claimed that they had an arrangement with the board to rent and use the Urban Development Corporation (UDC) playing field for their own personal gain, as a car park during the 2010 staging of Reggae Sumfest.

He also said he saw no documentation to support a claim that those who rented the facility had an arrangement with the board to pay the annual $46,000 lease to the UDC for use of the facility.

Unauthorised cancellation

Responding to yesterday's unauthorised cancellation of the much-anticipated board meeting, an equally angry Miller made it absolutely clear that he will not be thwarted in his bid to bring accountability to the board and expose those guilty of bringing the association into disrepute.

"I am not going to run away, I am going to clean up this mess," said Miller. "In the past, other administrators ran away out of frustration, but I won't be running, I am going to ensure that our football is cleaned up."

The closure of the FA's office is poised to impact at least two board members, Lilli-Mae Crawford and Tracey Reid, who are employed by the board to run the day-to-day operation of the board and also operate as league directors.

"I am not saying this office will be closed forever, but what I can tell you is that it will not be reopened until we have a board meeting to address the many concerns we have," said Nembhard. "I am putting down my foot today ... as president I will not allow my authority to be trampled on."