You ever see more mess?

Those who follow football in St Vincent and the Grenadines must be running out of negative superlatives to describe the current happenings on the administrative side of things.

At every turn, almost every day, there is some unsavoury episode emanating from those who were voted in or selected to run the affairs of the sport since September 2011.{{more}}

It is clear that the battle lines have been drawn and those with opposing views within the executive are not prepared to co-operate with one another and have declared war.

Pain and anguish should be the experience of those who have to report week in and week out as the drama series unfolds. Be that as it may, the truth must be told and the events recorded for historical purposes.

Whilst in some quarters, the stories emanating from within the walls at Bentick Square are juicy and to others, good to the ear, critically, the name of St Vincent and the Grenadines and football here is muddied with stained filth.

What is happening is most damaging to the sport at a time when it was slowly working its way back into the Vincentian psyche, as well as outside of these shores.

Vincentians at home and abroad are equally happy with some of the successes of the senior men and women and the male Under-23 teams. Also, Vincentians are being looked at for player contracts and scholarships.

The drafting of Oalex Anderson and Myron Samuel into the Sounders 2 set-up of the United States Soccer League are pluses, as this country exports its football stock in return for economic and sporting benefits. Similarly, this country is being sought by teams in Barbados and Guyana to fill their rosters, albeit on a semi-professional basis.

It must also be listed as a breakthrough for women’s football here, with three players recently jetting off to a US college.

Therefore, it only shows how counter-productive it could be for other prospects, if an end to the fallouts does not come and vendettas are not amicably resolved.

Is this the type of psychological preparation that the senior men’s outfit Vincy Heat needs ahead of its engagements with Aruba in the third round of the CONCACAF Zone of the World Cup Qualifiers, September 4 and 8?

Is the never-ending wrangling good publicity for the sport when advancement in the competition of the said team is being touted as the next big thing for the sport?

Will all football operations and entities be painted with the same colour and the same brush as destabilizing forces? Will potential corporate bodies treat them as latent socially explosive devices?

The sport of football offers more; hence greater respect should be reciprocated, especially off the field.

Let it be reiterated to all those who hold national offices that without the players, they are without that football clout and the status which goes with the various posts. One, however, has to stop and ask oneself if it is a case of what monkey see monkey do and St Vincent and the Grenadines does not want to be left out of the international spotlight?

Irrespective of what anyone says to the contrary, the administration of football in St Vincent and the Grenadines is facing a crisis in leadership and trust.

This crisis must be fixed with some urgency, as it may require intervention from the world governing body, who could institute the remote control process of our affairs on the ground.

All who are the focal points or part of the melee or party to both are responsible in some form or the other for the current situation.

The solution must, however, begin with the top man – president of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Football Federation Venold Coombs, as he must be more cultured in his disposition.

Yes, it was Coombs who at the presentation and awards ceremony last month opened up the powder keg by publicly declaring his unwillingness to continue to work with some of his executive members.

The office of the president of such an organization demands better and this must be pursued by him. This may be unattainable, as his stubborn nature seems to be limitless. The others in the fray, similarly, should make a choice; either they are in or they are out. The manner in which national football is treated has plummeted to an unreachable abyss. But when things get messy, then it is time to clean up or dump everything altogether.