Sports Minister Bernie Bush has called for the resignation of the Cayman Islands Athletic Association board despite a public apology from track-and-field officials over the handling of Lacee Barnes-Riley’s expulsion from the CARIFTA Games.
However, the day before Bush’s comments, CIAA president Delroy Murray insisted he would not step down.
In an interview with the Compass on Friday, 14 April, Bush, a former CIAA president, said the association hasn’t been performing up to par and has continued to fail to support Cayman’s track-and-fielders.
“Maybe it’s time… for the whole board to give someone else a chance to do a better job, because doing a better job, I can tell you, won’t be very hard,” Bush said.
His comments came several days after Barnes-Riley, the national women’s record holder for shot put and discus, had her coaching accreditation revoked during the CARIFTA Games in the Bahamas.
According to the CIAA, Barnes-Riley had obtained her accreditation outside of the established protocol, after she was turned down initially as the Cayman delegation had reached the maximum allowed athlete-coach ratio.
In a statement released issued Thursday, 13 April, Murray, saying he was speaking in a personal capacity and not in his official role at CIAA, said that Barnes had received the passes through a friend of former CIAA president Lance Barnes, who is Lacee’s father.
Bush said that while he does not condone Barnes-Riley’s actions, he disagrees with how the situation was handled.
Murray, in his statement, said he realised Barnes-Riley was at the CARIFTA event coaching two athletes she usually trains in Cayman, he ordered her removal, leading to her being escorted from the field by policemen – which Barnes-Riley described as humiliating in an Instagram video that has since been viewed thousands of times.
In his statement, Murray accused Barnes-Riley of telling “outright lies”.
He also expressed disappointment with politicians who have publicly sided with Barnes-Riley. While not naming any specific MPs, Jay Ebanks, Kenneth Bryan and Dwayne Seymour have all posted support for the athlete on social media.
Murray said such comments encourage a “‘We vs Them’ narrative that bodes no good for the community”.
“I have heard the calls for my resignation, but I am made of stronger stuff,” Murray added. “I will not yield to the clamor of a misinformed public. I will finish my term in office so long as that is the wish of the majority of the CIAA.”
Bush admitted that he too did not agree with the way Barnes-Riley obtained her accreditation.
“The people in the Bahamas….shouldn’t have accredited her without the association giving the okay. So, it [goes] two ways.”
However, Bush was not surprised by how Barnes-Riley was treated, saying the association hasn’t dealt with their athletes in the best way over the years.
In fact, just two months ago, Alex Pascal, 28, the Cayman’s national record holder in javelin, prematurely retired after being at loggerheads with the association over financial and coaching issues.
Prior to that, the North American Central American and Caribbean Athletics Association banned Cayman over owed funds following the 2019 CARIFTA Games, which were held locally. That matter has since been resolved.
Two years before that, former CIAA coach Ato Stephens was convicted and jailed for ‘sexting’ with a 14-year-old girl who he trained at the time.
Of the many dark clouds hanging over the association, Bush said fixable issues like athletes wearing old uniforms to international meets have continued over the last eight years.
“The president said that this is the best administration in the last decade. I will say this much, and I will not back off from this, the benchmark that he had to pass wasn’t very hard, because in the last decade none of these associations has impressed me at all,” he said.
Bush made reference to Stephens’s conviction, noting that if he had been on the board at the time, he, along with all the members, would have resigned because they would have failed in one of the main jobs of protecting the athletes.
“This may be another case,” Bush said, regarding the Barnes-Riley situation. “If I was sitting there, and you find so many people and especially the athletes are not pleased, I would say okay…put a new board in place.”
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