Antigua and Barbuda Football Association (ABFA) presidency hopeful, Barbara Coates, is in support of a move by clubs to convene an Extraordinary Meeting after their request for the sitting was ignored by the governing body.
Speaking with Observer media on the development, Coates said the clubs have acted in accordance with the ABFA’s Constitution.
“The Constitution speaks to the fact that the clubs can make a request of the ABFA to have an extraordinary congress and, in the absence of any acknowledgement or that congress being convened, that the clubs to have the legal option where they can proceed to have their own congress. Those clubs, some 28 of us who would have signed that request for the congress, we have that right as per the Constitution and that is exactly what we are doing,” she said.
With more than half of the clubs in support of the extraordinary meeting, Coates is hoping that the discussions could be open and frank as they seek to address some of the issues affecting the sport locally.
“I expect at this point that the clubs will be open to the discussion that we have a very cordial and professional congress and that the decisions made are legal decisions and will be sent to the ABFA and that the ABFA will understand that they are legal and they are to be implemented,” she said.
Coates, who said in April this year that we was contemplating placing her ambitions of becoming president of the ABFA on hold, believes she now has the support of the general body.
“It’s weird because I remember the day after the election I said I would try it again and I think the clubs are definitely looking for leadership, and that is lacking where the ABFA is concerned.
“I like the fact that it is half of us [clubs] that are coming together and when the elections were held I got 28 votes, and now I have 28 clubs who would have signed this. So I definitely believe it sends a clear signal that the clubs are unified and we do have the support from the majority of the clubs,” the presidency hopeful said.
Twenty-eight of the association’s member clubs are set to host the general gathering on October 1 after their request to the ABFA to convene the constitutionally-due meeting was reportedly ignored.
The clubs penned a letter to the FA in June this year requesting the meeting, but the FA reportedly never replied.