By Neto Baptiste
Minister of Sports Daryll Matthew has tendered his resignation as president of the once successful Lion Hill FC, just six months after he was elected to replace former head Devon Joseph, who had also resigned from the post.
Matthew’s resignation follows that of coach Justin “Trini” Pereira who reportedly left the technical post last week.
In a letter to the Lion FC, Matthew pointed to a perceived lack of unity within the executive as his main reason for stepping away from the position. He also accused executive members of not attending regular meetings.
Vice president and former national and Lion Hill defender Ivor Luke will assume the role until a new president could be elected.
He said the executive will decide the way forward.
“Firstly, let me thank the president for his tenure; it was short but the club says thanks. The next move is to have some discussions amongst the executive members in terms of the way forward and what I can promise you is that Lion Hill will become a bigger, better and more structured club and organisation going forward,” he said.
In his letter, Matthew pointed to one incident where he turned out for a meeting that was reportedly scheduled for 4pm but was forced to leave after executive members failed to show for the appointed time. He further alleged that the other members met in his absence and made several decisions.
Luke, who denied those claims, said the current situation was unsustainable and that Matthew’s decision was probably for the best.
“To me, how things were running could not be maintained in [any] meaningful way because, since the president has been elected, a lot of complaints were there from the players that they elected, not just the president, but an executive and nothing was happening. So, I don’t think that we would have gone forward in [a] positive way in how things were running before,” the former player said.
Matthew, who pledged to continue supporting the club, was elected just days ahead of the Antigua and Barbuda Football (ABFA) election in April.
