The?latest?antics by a section of the executive of the Barbados Football Association (BFA)?can be deemed as childish and immature.
What point were they trying to prove by asking president Randy Harris to step aside on the eve of an official visit here by CONCACAF boss Jeffrey Webb?
Was the intention to embarrass Harris, and even if it did, how wouldd it benefit football?
I think they continue to miss the point. The game is always much bigger than any individual, so it is in the general interest of everyone to concentrate on forging a philosophy and a set of developmental ideas that generations can benefit from.
Constant attempts to pull down and belittle fellow administrative colleagues have not served the association well in the past, and certainly won’t in the foreseeable future because a house divided against itself cannot stand.
I remember when other BFA leaders like Lewis Kirton, Gordon Douglas, Lisle Austin, George Lascaris and immediate past president Ronald Jones were put under pressure like incumbent Harris and football remained only on the periphery of its real potential to make an indelible mark n our sporting landscape.
Realistically, what has the association achieved of note as an organisation now in its 104th year?
Shouldn’t they be able to boast of at least having their own home, which is still some way from being completed?
How many regional competitions have we won?
How many players do we have playing in professional leagues in Europe, North America and elsewhere?
How often has the association shown a profit on its current account?
Oh and how do we stand in the present FIFA rankings?
I could probably think of another 100 questions to focus on the relevance of an association that might very well continue to lag behind some of the other countries we were on par with 20 years ago and others that have surpassed us in terms of development in the past ten.
Yes, as Webb noted at his press conference, internal conflict is embedded in the football culture of the Caribbean, but why can’t we aspire to be different, the exception to the rule?
Why should such conflicts prove to be our achilles heel and the greatest obstacle to paving a positive pathway for the thousands of aspiring youth who watch the international leagues in awe and dream of joining those ranks in the future?
Don’t we think we have footballers with the talent that with the right attitudes and placed in the right environment can become big earners like some of the game’s biggest stars?
Of course we do but when we create unnecessary fights in the boardroom it is bound to detract from what can be achieved on the fields because all stakeholders are touched by the petty politics which nurtures division with a very high cost.
People begin to target specific individuals, oppose for opposing sake and bulldoze every possible piece of positivity that has become as rare as a rainbow around the sun in BFA play.
We should remember that Webb urged all stakeholders to work together for football’s well being after, as he said, CONCACAF was very impressed with Harris’ vision for local football at last year’s congress in Panama.
Recent commitments made by UEFA president Michel Platini and football’s parent body FIFA, are proof that they have confidence in the direction we are moving.
• Andi Thornhill is an experienced, award-winning sports journalist.
