No crisis within SVGFF – Coombs

by Chanolde Munroe

President of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Football Federation (SVGFF) Venold Coombs is adamant that there is no problem or crisis within his organization.

The football boss contends that the “hiccups” the SVGFF has been experiencing over the years stem from a few problematic individuals within the organization.{{more}}

In an interview with SEARCHLIGHT last Friday, Coombs boasted that throughout it all, he has handled the situations with “great leadership, tact and tenacity.”

Referring to the recent clandestine audio taping of a meeting of his executive, which was leaked to the public, Coombs said he found such an act to be “highly unethical.”

In the audio tape, Coombs is heard berating third vice-president of the SVGFF Elroy Boucher.

Stating that he has repeatedly asked the “problematic” individuals on his executive to resign, Coombs disclosed that during the executive meeting at which he was taped, he did notice two persons with cellular devices and tablets in front of them, which he suspects may have been used to record what he said.

He said such an act should indicate to the public the type of person he has “had to put up with over the past four years.”

Coombs, nonetheless, stated firmly that he stands by what he said in the recordings.

Last week, Coombs suspended his general secretary Trevor Huggins. The president said he took the decision to suspend the general secretary after Huggins sent a letter to a lawyer requesting that the lawyer respond to him (Huggins) directly, something which Coombs sees as a “serious form of instability and subversion.”

Coombs, however, boasted that under his rule the SVGFF has been most successful executive in history and has been given the most money because of his ability to “lead, negotiate and succeed.”

He noted that for this year, the SVG national football team took part in several international tournaments and gave a good account of themselves.

He made reference to the Windward Islands tournaments, in which both the male and female teams won; the recent World Cup qualifier against Haiti where, according to him, SVG should have won, but nevertheless gave a good account of themselves.

In addition, the World Cup Preliminaries will soon take place and the national female football team is more than likely to advance to next round in their World Cup qualifier, Coombs said.

“Football has made progress. You can now play football right through the year… there are a lot of record firsts since I have been in charge,” Coombs stated.

The president said he has introduced Under-13 soccer and organized grass roots courses, in which every club must have a licensed coach.

Continuing the recital of the achievements of his administration, Coombs said currently three female players are studying abroad on football scholarships because of a coach who was brought here and was impressed with the quality of players.

He also spoke of the players that SVG currently has exported, including Olex Anderson, playing for the Seattle Sounders, Myron Samuel, also with the Sounders and Cornie Stewart in England, as well as other players across the region.