3 weeks ago, we told you about the internal struggle in the Football Federation of Belize. FFB Executive members Cruz Gamez, Marlon Kuylen and Senior Vice President Sergio Chuc passed a motion to suspend President Ruperto Vicente.
They accused him on making poor decisions for the progress of football, and manipulating the elections for the District Associations so that they could get their supporters elected. That was supposed to be part of a plot to get Vicente re-elected.
Vicente responded by calling their accusations ridiculous, and that this was, from Vicente's perspective, a power play by the 3 to try to take away the presidency by force. He accused them of trying to drag his name in the mud so that the delegates of the FFB Congress would be doubtful of his integrity in the upcoming elections.
That uproar got the governing bodies of Football, CONCACAF and FIFA involved. They were called in to decide on whether the suspension would stand.
So, that's what happened on Sunday evening. A representative from FIFA flew in all the way from Zurich on Saturday evening, and another from CONCACAF arrived on Sunday. They held extensive meetings with Vicente first, and then Gamez, Kuylen and Chuc after. The three spent 4 hours making their case to the two FIFA representatives as to why Vicente's suspension is valid and should be allowed to stand.
In the end, these International Football representatives found that that although these 3 were well within their rights to suspend Vicente, they didn't give the required notice: instead of 21 days, they only gave 15.
So Vicente's suspension is invalid because the 3 jumped the gun on the meeting date. After 4 hours of waiting at the Radisson on Sunday night, we spoke with all 3 FFB executives about the unfavorable outcome to sanction Vicente. Here's what they told us:
Cruz Gamez, Executive Member - FFB
"The two persons that came to visit us tonight was Mr. Marco Leal from CONCACAF. He is the legal representative and Mr. Luca Nicola. He is from FIFA Member Associations. He is one of the managers of that department."
Marlon Kuylen, Executive Member - FFB
"First of all we prepared a binder with evidence of wrong doings, breaches in statutes, and we presented it to them. We spoke about all that has happened over the 4 years and trying to plan a way forward. As to the suspension of the president, we had authority to do so based on the statutes, but we erred. We did not give him the amount of days needed for him to convene the meeting. So therefore, in their interpretation, the presidents stands as he is not suspended."
Daniel Ortiz
"Is that dissapointing news for you all?"
Sergio Chuc - Senior Vice President - FFB
"Certainly disappointing, because we had look at the statutes properly. We had seen all the violations that had occurred. We knew it was the right thing to do and our interpretation was that when it said within 21 days that we called the meeting within 21 days. It says the agenda had to go out 14 days before the meeting and so we put out our points that we wanted on the agenda and we invited the president to also include whatever he deemed necessary to be on the agenda. But because of the technicality that we did not give him the 21 days, then definitely we are disappointed because our interpretation at this point still that we were well within our rights. The president went on national media and said that we did not have the power to do it. It's a vindication of sort, but still disappointing because the legal people from FIFA and from CONCACAF who are here had said yes you guys were within your power, you had the power to suspend."
So, what about that accusation that they are trying make a play for Vicente's job by force? We asked all 3 about that accusation, and we also asked if they're going to offer themselves for re-election. Here's what they told us:
Sergio Chuc - Senior Vice President - FFB
"Mr. Marco Leal, the legal rep for CONCACAF has committed that yes he will be here for the FFB elections, so there will be a representative from FIFA here. At this stage I cannot comment if will be offering myself. I need to think about it seriously, because we are convinced still at this point that there has been some serious manipulations. We have documented evidence that we have presented to the legal reps. They will be reviewing it and they still have interviews tomorrow with the league, with aggrieve persons - people that the electoral committee rejected their applications for several different reasons. So the process is still not over yet. So at this time we cannot say a definitive no or yes on my part."
Marlon Kuylen, Executive Member - FFB
"As to me running again, I don't know. I have to do some real soul searching and dig deep down to decide if I will continue with this."
Cruz Gamez, Executive Member - FFB
"As well I will decide over the coming days and see what FIFA comes out with after tomorrow's meeting with different stakeholders and thereafter I will decide and see what direction I take."
Daniel Ortiz
"The president has made an allegation against you specifically Mr. Chuc, that this is part of the machinations as part of you 3 to try to rest the presidency away from him - to strong away from him. Can we get a response from you on that?"
Sergio Chuc - Senior Vice President - FFB
"Not really. The president has a wild imagination. I will just leave it at that."
It appears that the fight has been put down, and Vicente has emerged more or less unscathed. They tell us that they've accomplished what they set out to do, which was the get the attention of FIFA and CONCACAF on the direction football has taken in Belize for the last 4 years. And now, the election is set for April 30th - 12 days after the 18th that Vicente had set.
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