By Neto Baptiste
President of the Antigua and Barbuda Athletics Association (ABAA), Everton “Mano” Cornelius, said the ongoing matter regarding a breach of the body’s protocols by coach Kesswin Anthony and travel official, Joanne Small, could be brought to a close this week.
Cornelius, speaking on the Good Morning Jojo Sports Show, also posited that based on the findings of an investigation conducted by a committee assembled to look into the breach, the suspensions placed on both individuals could be lifted.
“Well, I am just waiting for the final report to reach my hands and then we will look at exactly what we have done and determine if what we put in place basically … I wouldn’t say justifies the suspension, but we think we have punished them long enough so we will look at it and determine that, so we are just waiting for the written report to reach which I will probably get some time this week,” he said.
In October last year, the association announced it had suspended both Anthony, and Small, who was Chef de Mission to the NACAC U18 and U23 Track and Field Championships, following an alleged protocol breach. Reports are suggesting that a female athlete fell asleep in the coach’s room during the meet.
Cornelius said that despite widespread belief the matter should have been resolved earlier, the association owed it to the individuals to be diligent.
“As I’ve said to people over and over, how long it takes to get something done properly, then that is what I am going to do, take the time to get it done properly, and if that is what is demanded of me by the executive and the members, then that’s what I am going to do. It’s not a situation of whether it takes two years, three years, four years or five years, it’s a matter [of importance] because you’re dealing with people and I don’t think you can just rush to judgment when it comes to dealing with people, their lives and their livelihoods,” he said.
The athletics boss further solidified his argument by insisting that the decision to put a committee in place was a collective one by the body’s executive.
“That’s the association’s decision to go the route we took. I, maybe, looking in from the outside might think why that, but people put on the table the things they want to put on the table, and from an executive level or the association level, that’s the direction they want to go,” Cornelius said.
In a previous interview, Cornelius suggested that any punishment could also extend to the athlete whose identity has not been revealed.