Football Federation of Belize clarifies misconceptions ahead of July election

By Aaron Humes: The Football Federation of Belize (FFB) is moving ahead to its July 4 Congress for executive elections after today trying to clear the air concerning allegations of corruption and misappropriation involving the Federation.

The dismissals of Kent and Christine Gabourel and recent allegations of misappropriation in the FFB by the Belmopan Football Association, as well as the recent Belize District Football Association election in which some felt disenfranchised, were all discussed and clarified by the Federation’s general secretary, Earl Jones.

Jones told us that Kent Gabourel’s issue as to previous long-term employment is being looked at and Christine is first in line to manage the renovated kitchen-turned-restaurant at the Federation’s Belmopan headquarters.

The Federation has by this time paid employees vacation pay but will not be in any position to pay anything else until competitions can restart.

Jones said of the misappropriation allegation that “we did not misappropriate funds for FIFA. As a matter of fact, the liability that was left with this present administration was so huge that we had to use FIFA’s money to pay off those liabilities. As a result when the FIFA compliance auditor came in we said that that expense could not be paid from FIFA’s funds so we had to replace the money.” He added that the Federation’s current austerity measures are a result of having to repay FIFA.

As for the BDFA situation, there are still amateur clubs participating in competitions without being registered members, which they are not obligated to be, according to Jones. But if you wish to vote for membership on the executive, you do have to register, and after extending the deadline for participation, the BDFA decided to move on to some club owners’ chagrin.

We have asked the Federation for a list of the completed elections process and candidates for the Congress, as Jones confirmed all positions on the executive are up for challenging including incumbent president Sergio Chuc.

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