Back in December of 2017, Sergio Chuc, the President of the Football Federation of Belize and his current executive were elected into office after a period of strife and controversy. You'll remember that Chuc and the most senior members of his administration were part of the executive under the former President, Ruperto Vicente. But, these executives began to strongly disagree with the direction that Vicente was leading the development of local football.
So, Chuc and his team ran against Vicente and won; since those elections, there has been a period of stability and the restoration of confidence in the FFB. Our newsroom has been getting regular updates from football insiders, who, for the most part, were satisfied with Chuc's first term in office as President.
That's until about 2 weeks ago when a series of documents were released to the press, which appears to call several of his administration's recent decisions into question.
It is important to note that on July 4th, a little over 2 weeks from now, the FFB will hold a Congress to elect a new executive. Informed persons within the football community are treating these documents nothing more than politicking designed to attack Chuc's credibility as he and his executive pursue re-election. But, given the tumultuous history that the FFB has had before Chuc's administration, we were obliged to follow up on them.
The first is connected to the executive's decision to lay off a group of about 20 employees during this coronavirus pandemic. The football community is also struggling with the economic crisis that the pandemic has caused, and they have had to make tough decisions to survive.
But, 2 football associations affiliated with the FFB accused them of showing little compassion to those employees who were sent home. One of them is Kent Gabourel, who, according to a series of letters from the Belmopan Association, is a long-standing employee of 12 years, who has made a significant sacrifice for the advancement of the sport. He was sent home and informed that his contract, which had expired, would not be renewed. The FFB also parted ways with his wife, Jean Gabourel, who was also employed at the FFB. The Belmopan Football Association viewed the parting as "stone-hearted", and they demanded answers from the FFB. That Association was supported by the Stann Creek Football Association, and so, they began agitating for answers to the lay-offs, given that the FFB saved 10s of thousands of dollars from tournaments which were planned, but which had to be canceled due to the National State of Emergency.
Today, FFB's General Secretary, Earl Jones called a press conference today to set the record straight. The first issue he addressed was the terms under which Kent Gabourel and this wife, Jean, are no longer employed with the FFB. Here are his comments on that topic:
Earl Jones - General Secretary, FFB
"After the audit, and what we established in the audit was that Mr. Gabourel simply - we only had an obligation for Mr. Gabourel for the last contract that he signed. At the end of March, his contract came to an end. He was not terminated. His contract came to an end. We decided we would not renew his contract, and that's when we had to part ways by giving him the adequate notice that he would not be renewing his contract. On the issue of the money that was paid to him, [it] was withheld from his gratuity is simply that the FIFA Forward Fund, you must pay according to an agreement or a contract. His contract came to an end. There was no new agreement to justify continuing to pay him from FIFA funds, and the FFB simply does not have the funds to pay him. All of our income has collapsed."
Reporter
"Specifically from - I guess it was the Belmopan Football Association, they specifically made the point to try to suggest that it was insensitive of the FFB Administration to release this man during a very difficult time for the country and for citizens. What are your thoughts on that?"
Earl Jones
"As I mentioned, FIFA Funds carries a set of regulations and rules. We are guided by those rules if we are to spend their funds. The agreement came to an end. There was nothing to substantiate continuing to pay him from FIFA Funds, and FFB simply did not have the funds to pay him. So, that had to be put back where it came from."
Reporter
"Can you speak to the release of his wife, as well?"
Earl Jones
"Before COVID, Mrs. Gabourel was told that we would go through the renovation of the kitchen, the dorm, and the entire FFB compound. Our understanding with her then was that we would be contracting out the kitchen, the cooking, to her. As soon as the infrastructure program began, we had to make the move to terminate her service, as we had planned so that we can then formulate the new agreement, for her to take up the cooking at the kitchen. So, her service was terminated without cause, based on an understanding that we had that she would be given the priority to run the kitchen."
Reporter
"Is that still the plan?"
Earl Jones
"We will definitely put it out there, and she will tender for it, and her tender is accepted, we will definitely consider her."
We also asked about those employees who were laid off, and the criticism from those within the football community, who view the decision as unfair. According to the FFB General Secretary, a difficult decision had to be made, and that the lay-offs are only temporary. Here's how he explained why:
Earl Jones - General Secretary, FFB
"What we had as our revenues, all that has collapsed. That would create a shortfall in our budget, and if we are not careful before the end of the year, we may have to terminate people. We decided that we need to make a move so that we can save their jobs for the rest of the year. This move was not an easy move to make, given a time like this. But, it was the best time to make it. Why I say the best time to make it was that most of the other agencies, the utility companies, they were giving grace periods, with a payment plan later on. They will have their jobs back on the 15th of August, that they can catch up. Had they not taken this - and this is from the top to the bottom - come to the end of the year, there would have been a shortfall, where some would have had to be laid off. So, we're making a sacrifice at this time to make sure that they have their jobs at the end of the year."
Reporter
"So, it's only temporary."
Earl Jones
"It's only temporary. As a matter of fact, they were paid their vacation pay and everything, just recently, to keep them going. We're trying to see if the contractor who will be engaging in the stadium will utilize - taking on two of them to assist them around the compound, to try and make sure that they're looked after."
Reporter
"Your office was able to identify funds that were saved - that were not used for any football events. I guess that the dissenting association suggests that maybe the FFB should have allocated those members of the community who you furloughed."
Earl Jones
"That decision was made because of the regulations in the spending of FIFA's money. Yes, the provision that we had to fulfill was relaxed for competitions, and that money was supposed to go into the mitigation and relief of the member associations. What we did, the competition was canceled, and the money that became available according to the month, we gave as a relief to the member associations. We could not have used that money to pay salaries because the regulations simply say that you cannot do that."
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