‘I took a principled position’, says Coombs

President of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Football Federation (SVGFF) Venold Coombs is of the view that he, on behalf of the local Football body, took a principled stance by abstaining from voting in the election of Horace Burrell to the Normalisation Committee of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU).{{more}}

The Normalisation Committee has been set up to perform the functions of the regional Football body until a new CFU Executive is elected, and was one of the resolutions which came out of a special meeting held in Zurich, Switzerland, December 20 and 21.

Coombs, who attended the meeting, told SEARCHLIGHT last Tuesday that he abstained from voting for Burrell, who won 7-5.

“I am a principled person and had to take the principled position and abstained, having taken action home here on a similar matter”, Coombs said.

Jamaican Burrell, a senior CFU official, was suspended by FIFA’s Ethics Committee in October for a period of six months for violation of the code of ethics, as a consequence of his involvement in the May 10 and 11 meeting in Trinidad and Tobago, in the US$40,000 cash for vote bribery scandal involving then FIFA presidential candidate Qatari Mohammed bin Hammam.

Burrell’s suspension ends January 16, 2012.

Coombs was the principal officer who ordered the sacking of then General Secretary of the SVGFF Ian Hypolite, who was also suspended by FIFA for 15 days and fined 300 Swiss francs for his part in the said meeting.

The Zurich meeting was attended by Presidents of member states of the CFU to resolve issues confronting the organisation, which has been mired in an administrative tangle since the scandal.

Coombs holds the view that the meeting was timely as “CFU was falling apart.”

“It was a successful meeting in bringing together every one and taking action”, the Football boss said.

Coombs believes that holding the meeting in Zurich was more profitable, as “nothing much would have been achieved had it been held in the region, and we would have been in the same position”.

The Normalisation Committee has the task of setting a date for a CFU Extraordinary Congress to approve the new CFU statutes – such date to be no later than 90 days after December 20, 2011.

Among the responsibilities of the Normalisation Committee is the appointment of a new General Secretary, following the resignation of Angenie Khanai.

The committee also must review the new CFU statutes to be proposed by the CFU Legal Committee, as well as prepare the 2011 Annual Report of the CFU.

Apart from Burrell, the Normalisation Committee is made up of Yves Jean-Bart (Haiti), Luis Hernandez (Cuba), Victor Daniel (Grenada), Jeffrey Webb (Cayman Islands). Larry Mussenden (Bermuda), Ronald Jones (Barbados), Everton Gonsalves (Antigua and Barbuda) and Rignaal Francisca (Curacao). (RT)