The regional governing body of athletics has laid the blame for the controversy surrounding the CARIFTA coaching credentials of Lacee Barnes-Riley on an official at the games.
The North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletic Association, in a letter on the public spat between Lacee Barnes-Riley and the Cayman Islands Athletic Association, said neither party was responsible – it was the fault of CARIFTA official Pauline Davis.
After a week of tit-for-tat accusations between CIAA and Barnes-Riley, NACAC general secretary Keith Joseph recounted that on 6 April, accreditation official Kirsti Johnson was holding onto the badges that were printed for Barnes-Riley and her husband, Adrian Riley, pending financial authorisation for their release and pick-up by a team representative – which would have been either Jerry Holness or Cydonie Mothersill.
However, Davis entered the accreditation centre and requested the badges for the couple, which Johnson explained that she was unable to release because she had not received confirmation of whether Cayman had paid their levy.
Despite being refused, according to the letter, Davis “proceeded to slam her hand on top of the badges that were on the side of the official’s computer, and said, ‘I will be responsible’, and took the badges and walked out of the accreditation centre”.
“The leadership of the [local organising committee] did not authorize Ms Davis to engage in the action she undertook,” Joseph stated in the letter.
While the letter ultimately lays blame on Davis, CIAA president Delroy Murray noted that the situation could have been avoided if Barnes-Riley had accepted from the beginning he couldn’t grant her a coaching pass because Cayman had reached the maximum allowed athlete-to-coach ratio for the CARIFTA Games.
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