The 53 affiliates of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Football Federation (SVGFF) will have to wait a little longer, before they can exercise their right to elect a new executive of the organisation.

This, after the Elective Congress, which was originally anticipated for January 27, 2024, at the Methodist Church Hall, Kingstown, will not take place.

At the core of the deferral are the various preambles that must be done in accordance with the new Statutes of the SVGFF.

At an Extra-Ordinary Congress held January 10, 2024, the new Statutes were adopted, hence, the Elective Congress must be governed through these Statutes.

Confirmation that for “good order”, the new Statutes must be enforced was FIFA’s Chief Member Associations Officer, Kenney Jean Marie, who in a letter dated January 23, 2024, and addressed to General Secretary of the SVGFF, Devron Poyer, outlined several mandates.

“We would like to underline 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 lodged with the SVGFF Appeal Committee as defined in the Electoral Code,” Jean Marie emphasised.

Continuing his guidance to strict adherence to the Statutes, Jean Marie added, “According to article 30 paragraph 7 of the new SVGFF Statutes, candidatures for any of the positions 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.”

Jean Marie thus underscored that any attempt to host the Elective Congress on the planned January 27, 2024 date, “would clearly contravene a number of mandatory provisions of the newly-adopted statutory framework of the SVGFF”.

As a consequence, affiliates will tomorrow, January 27, 2024, be engaged in an online meeting on the Zoom platform from 9:30 am.

This Extra Ordinary Congress, will essentially determine the road map to the Elective Congress, approve the SVGFF Electoral Code, the Electoral Committees, along with the decision/position from parent bodies.

An unparalleled 33 candidates have been nominated for the positions of President, First Vice-President, Second Vice-President, Third Vice-President and five Committee Members.

However, they must first satisfy the parameters of the Integrity Check before their names can be entered on the ballots.