Members of the Cayman Islands Football Players Association say their members are being excluded from having a say in who leads their parent Cayman Islands Football Association because players in the local clubs are not being consulted on the election process.
With the 57th Cayman Islands Football Association Annual General Meeting set for late September, the players association is pleading to clubs to follow election-related rules set out in a CIFA memorandum when deciding who to vote for.
Currently, the majority of the executive members within the football association obtained their positions unopposed throughout the various elections.
“We would like to know how the clubs come to a decision about who to cast their vote for when there’s an election for executive committee members because, at the moment, we believe that clubs are not abiding by the mandates of the CIFA memorandum,” the players association told the Compass.
CIFA president Alfredo Whittaker, first vice president Mark Beckford and second vice president Dion Brandon each secured an automatic place following an unopposed campaign – an issue the players association blames on club board members.
According to the players association, the continuous unopposed elections are not due to potential candidates not showing interest, but rather not being nominated as clubs fail to follow their mandated duties, as listed on the CIFA memorandum.
“No action taken place in a business meeting of any organised society is legally binding unless a certain number of its members was present,” CIFPA said. “It is the largest number of members that may reasonably be expected to attend meetings under ordinary circumstances and a number that would be competent to conduct business.”
The memorandum states: “Full Members of the Company and the Executive Committee are those entitled to make nominations,” and that “each member shall be entitled to one vote at the Congress and is represented by its delegates”.
While the memorandum clearly outlines that players and non-players have the right to be heard during the nomination and voting process throughout the club meetings, the CIFPA says this is not being done. Instead, CIFPA believes no quorum is being established prior to the congress because players are being left on the sidelines.
“It’s the board members making the decisions on who to vote for and leaving the players out, which is inappropriate based on the memorandum, and that’s why every AGM continues to be unjust,” CIFPA said.
“To have true representation at the CIFA congress, member clubs should have a general meeting before the congress with their members – playing and non-playing – to decide who they will vote for when a position at an executive level becomes vacant.”
The players association noted that once this process is completed, the clubs will then decide on who the voting delegates will be at the congress.
The CIFA 57th Annual General Meeting will take place from 10am, at The Westin hotel, on 23 Sept., with Antwan Seymour and Mark Beckford contesting the position for first vice president, Martin Cooke and Mark Campbell running for assistant general secretary, and Armando Ebanks running unopposed as treasurer.
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