Michael John seeking SVGFF Presidency

Businessman and Information Technology Specialist Michael John has made his intentions clear.

He will be vying for the presidency of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Football Federation,{{more}} whenever elections are called.

John, who served on two previous Executives, including the current, told SEARCHLIGHT of his intentions if elected to the top post, last Monday.

He is basing his campaign on the theme: “Inclusion and full participation to develop the game of the People, Soccer”.

“If I am elected, I will be pushing my Executive to strengthen links with the Diaspora, with the view of getting scholarships for our young players,” John, who has been the chief organizer of the Belfongo Football League for the past fifteen years, said.

Another of the pillars on which John proposes to advance the game is that of youth development.

“We will be placing a lot of emphasis on grassroots development, and paying attention to the enhancement and further development of primary and secondary school football,” John disclosed.

He also sees as critical to the advancement of the sport here the development of more FIFA accredited referees.

John’s target group is secondary school students, especially those who are proficient in a foreign language. He reasons that refereeing is becoming a highly paid job at the international level.

Other areas of priority for John and his prospective Executive are the provision of more Football equipment island wide; the strengthening of the Club structure, improvement of the administration of national Football competitions, and the enhancement of club administration and ownership.

John also wants to see an improvement in St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ position of FIFA world ranking, additional engagement of the national teams in more friendly international matches, whilst promoting the sports tourism product

John brings with him his many years of Football, community service and business experience on the national level.

In his last stint at the national level, John served as Committee Member of the 2009 Executive, under current President Joseph Delves.

Before that, John was the Treasurer of the Ian Sardine led Executive of 1995.

The proprietor of Computec and Comsports, John has been the Council member of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Chamber of Industry and Commerce, and is the Vice President St Vincent and the Grenadines Credit Union League and Second Vice President of the Lions Club South.

He is a past president of the Kingstown Co-operative Credit Union and was employed with the Central Water and sewerage Authority from 1983 to 2004.

“It must be borne in mind that Football is no longer a backyard game. It is one of the richest sports in the world. It is the poor people sport that makes poor people rich,” Joan claimed.

He made mention of Samuel Eto’o, Lionel Messi, Dwight Yorke and Kenwyne Jones, who have all been able to make more than a decent living from Football.

John stated that Football is also keeping pace with technology, whereby the most modern forms of communication have to be employed to effectively administrate the game.

He is seeking to take the place of the incumbent Joseph Delves, who edged out former President St. Clair Leacock 40-39 in the most hotly contested and much publicized Football elections, staged in October 2007.

It is unsure if Delves will be seeking re-election.

Apart from John, one former President, Venold Coombs, has expressed an interest in the top post.

Patrick Horne, who is based in New York, USA, has also made his ambitions known of heading the local Football body.

Other than the President, the affiliates of the SVGFF will initially elect three vice presidents.

The president thereafter will appoint two Committee Members. Five others are elected at the first General Meeting.

The current Executive of the SVGFF sees Joseph Delves – President, Ian Sardine- First Vice President, Raymond Trimmingham – Second Vice President, and Ashley Caine – Third Vice President.

At present there are functioning Committee Members in Arnold Dalrymple, Cerlian Russell, Jules Anthony and Kamara Doyle. Ian Hypolite is the SVGFF’s General Secretary, which is a paid position.