ABFA Promises To Pay Prize Monies In Two Weeks

All clubs owed by the Antigua & Barbuda Football Association (ABFA) will be paid, in full, within 14 days.
This is according to General Secretary, Gordon Derrick, who was responding to President of the Liberta Sports Club, Kenneth Benjamin, who said last week that the club is owed upwards of $15,000.
Derrick apologised to the Liberta Sports Club but assured the officials there that the funds will be forthcoming.
“I understand he has written and I know we have spoken and he is correct, prize monies are to be paid on time when available and we must apologize on behalf of the Association. But I can assure him [Benjamin] that within the next 14 days, all prize monies will be paid … to all the clubs and we apologise again,” he said.
“It was a matter of cash flow and the distribution of funds and when it arrives to us. Last year, we ended the season and there was a change with FIFA and some of the funds didn’t come but I agree with him that the clubs need their money and they must be paid. President Everton Gonsalves has always been heavy on that so we will have these things sorted out within 14 days,” he added.
Benjamin, speaking on the Good Morning Jojo Sports Show, said his Blackhawks football team is yet to be paid for winning the 2015/16 First Division and also the President’s Cup, which was played in the form of a pre-season competition.
“They owe Liberta Sports Club over $15,000 and we can’t get our money and I know they owe West Ham, too, and this is unfortunate that we have to come on the air with this. They are hiring more employees, they are sending overseas for under-20 players and they boast that under-20 players reach some level where we should be proud of them, and rather than giving them an opportunity we are bringing in under-20 players and they can’t pay the clubs their prize money,” the former cricketer said.
In addition to prize monies, Benjamin said the club is also owed for the rental of its sporting facility, in Liberta, to the ABFA.