Blackhawks Threaten Legal Action If Steps Taken To Boot Team From Premier Division

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President of the Liberta Sports Club, Kenneth Benjamin
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By Neto Baptiste

The Liberta Sports Club is willing to take its fight through the legal route if attempts are made to remove the Blackhawks team from the country’s top football division.

This was the warning from President of the sports club, Kenneth Benjamin, who said that any attempts to remove the Blackhawks from the schedule will result in legal action.

“Here it is that we have some concerns, and the ABFA is not addressing them. Do you call that abandoning the league? At the end of the day the courts would have to deal with that and we know FIFA don’t want any courts involved, but we have decided that we will go to the courts so you’ll probably see this going further than where they want it to go. We have an issue so just deal with it and let us move on,” he said.

Blackhawks were a no-show for their scheduled opener against All Saints United at the FA’s technical center last Saturday. This after the club had written to the ABFA seeking clarity regarding the insurance coverage for players amongst other concerns.

The FA subsequently sent an email to all clubs informing them that although an aggressive overhauling of the insurance policy is incomplete, the association would reimburse clubs for all injuries sustained by covered individuals.

Benjamin said that although they did receive the mail, a number of their concerns were still not addressed.

“All we need is to sit down and let us get a clear understanding in terms of the process if someone gets injured, and what it is we can claim for and that sort of thing, and that is all we are asking them for. They say they are vigorously revamping and we don’t have any issues with that, but in the meantime, have a talk with us because our players are concerned. Our players paid their membership fees and they expect representation from the executive and from the club,” he said. 

The former West Indies fast bowler explained the club’s hesitance in proceeding without a detailed explanation and or written agreement from the ABFA.

“The last time one of our players got seriously injured and the medical bill came to $12,000.00 and the Liberta Sports Club had to pay that. The football association didn’t want to give us back so you know what we had to do? We said it was an assault on the player because it didn’t happen during play. It was on the field, but it wasn’t during the run of play and the policemen said to us that yes, they could arrest the guy. He was an overseas player for one of the teams and the ABFA didn’t want that, so they paid and that is how we got the money so we don’t go through that again,” the president said. 

Blackhawks, who said that they are still open to meeting and discussing their concerns with the ABFA, are slated to meet Ottos Rangers in the second match of a triple-header on Sunday.

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