THE Barbados Football Association’s (BFA) rescheduled annual general meeting (AGM) has been given a red card by its former secretary Adrian Donovan.
The AGM was finally held on Friday at the National Public Workers’ Cooperative Credit Union in Belmont Road, St Michael, after it was originally scheduled for last Sunday at Solidarity House.
Donovan said his main grouse was that the annual report, which summarizes the administrative programme of the association over the past year and the financial statement, was rushed through.
“The members were given no chance to peruse the 97-page document and in five minutes, the report was adopted,” he claimed.
“For an association which is celebrating 101 years of existence, this AGM resembled a gathering of club officials at someone’s house with the intention of having to leave the premises early.”
Donovan, the long-standing president of the Paradise Football Club, also chided BFA president Ronald Jones.
“The meeting was called to order and he went straight into the minutes of the 2010 AGM. It is highly unacceptable, disrespectful to expect anybody to digest 97 pages immediately and then be asked if there are any questions.”
The veteran sports administrator said there was representation from about just eight of the BFA’s 103 affiliates, with around 28 people present.
However, this was disputed by a BFA?official who said that at least 50 delegates were present.
The official also defended Jones, saying that he did not only address the gathering but gave a thorough report on the association’s activities over the past year.
“It appears to be a secretive meeting because unlike other national associations, the BFA has once again failed to properly notify its membership in all forms of the media,” Donovan said.
But the BFA?official, who asked not to be named, made it clear that the stipulated seven’s day notice for the meeting was given as required in the constitution.
“This AGM only comes once a year and it is the only time that the membership is given an update or any kind of report on the running of the association,” Donovan said. “Better can be done and better should be done for a million-dollar association.
“What does it take for the association to take a $500 ad and place it in the Press prior to the meeting, as is done by other bodies and some local clubs who are in the same financial position?” he asked. (EZS)
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