FIFA, the world governing body for football, on Tuesday ordered the postponement of the election of the executive of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Football Federation (SVG), which were due to take place on Saturday.
In a letter on Tuesday to Devron E. Poyer, general secretary of the SVGFF, Kenny Jean-Marie, FIFA’s chief member associations officer, said the election can only take place if the SVGFF adopts a new electoral code as instructed by FIFA and has an electoral committee in place.
Jean-Marie referred to an email from Power on Jan. 12 which contained information about the outcome of the SVGFF congress held on Jan. 10 and noted the apparent decision taken on Jan. 10 to hold the elective congress on Jan. 27.
The FIFA official highlighted that following the adoption by the SVGFF congress of the new SVGFF Statutes on Jan. 10, specific provisions in relation to elections immediately came into force and would now need to be abided by.
“In particular, according to article 30 paragraph 7 of the new SVGFF Statutes, candidatures for any of the position of the Executive Council must be sent to the SVGFF General Secretary at least 30 days before the relevant elections. Furthermore, the official list of candidates must be provided to the members of SVGFF at least 10 days before the relevant elective congress.,” the FIFA official wrote.
Jean-Marie further underlined that any elections at the SVGFF to take place under the newly- adopted statutory framework will now need to be conducted on the basis of the Electoral Code of SVGFF and be supervised by the Electoral Committee.
“Moreover, the Electoral Committee shall pass decisions on the eligibility of all candidates in line with the requirements and timeline provided for in the SVGFF Statutes and Electoral Code. Sufficient time must also be given to appeals to be lodged with the SVGFF Appeal Committee as defined in the Electoral Code.”
The FIFA official said that on account of the above, “it would appear to us that an elective congress to be held on 27 January 2024 would clearly contravene a number of mandatory provisions of the newly-adopted statutory framework of the SVGFF.
“In view of this, we kindly ask the SVGFF to immediately inform its members about the content of this letter and postpone any elections apparently due to take place on 27 January 2024.”
Jean-Marie further requested that the SVGFF provides FIFA withing the three day after the letter “a proposed roadmap leading to a new elective congress which shall elect a new SVGFF Executive Council in full compliance with the requirements and deadlines established in the new SVGFF Statutes and Electoral Code.
The official said that once the proposed roadmap is received, FIFA and Concacaf would review it and confirm whether its content is in line with your new statutory framework.
FIFA further said that information at its disposal indicate that the SVGFF had so far not adopted any new electoral code as instructed by FIFA at the end of last year.
“As a result, we kindly ask you to ensure that the proposed roadmap stipulates when such code will be adopted. The roadmap should also confirm when the subsequent ratification of the members of the electoral bodies (i.e. Electoral Committee and Appeal Committee) will take place.
“In this context, and for the sake of good order, please be informed that the elections of a new SVGFF Executive Council will only be able to be conducted once the SVGFF has adopted such a code and the electoral committees are duly in place.”
In a Jan. 15 press release, the SVGFF says that its president, Carl Dickson is seeking a second consecutive term amidst challenges by former president, Marvin Fraser, incumbent first vice-president Otashie Spring, former national player, Renson Haynes and Wayne Grant.
Dominique Stowe, Elroy Boucher, Leslie Millington and Rohan Thomas Jr are vying to be first president.
The second vice-president position will be a toss-up between Debson Cruickshank, Nadichia Browne, Roxell John, Trevor Huggins and Yosiah Dascent while Dwight Roberts, Elron Lewis and Kal King are each hoping to fill the 3rd vice-president post.
Sixteen people are hoping to fill the five committee members spots. They are: Arrington Burgin, Deptor Culzac, Dwight Baptiste, Gregory Matthias, Germano Douglas, Iyakie Daniel, James Browne Keith Duncan, Koyana Horne, Otnell Douglas, Rosalo Mc Kie, Tamara Barrow, Tamiesha Johnson Timora Peters, Warren Ollivierre and Yoland London.
The SVGFF said then that the next phase of the electoral process involves the nominations being forwarded to the electoral committee, responsible for organising and supervising the election process in strict accordance with the Electoral Code of SVGFF.
“This step includes a thorough integrity check on all the nominated candidates. At the conclusion of this process, all stakeholders will be promptly notified. Following the notification, affiliates will proceed to elect an individual for each presidential position, and the selected five to serve as Committee Members,” the SVGFF said.