Canuck Oranje Posted January 23, 2004 Share Posted January 23, 2004 Just mentioned on Sportsnet. Said it could mean there will be no team to play in June... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ray Posted January 23, 2004 Share Posted January 23, 2004 quote:Originally posted by Canuck Oranje Just mentioned on Sportsnet. Said it could mean there will be no team to play in June... That would not be good. We need an opponent, any opponent, in a series that actually means something before we go into the second round of qualification. And, I already sent away for my ticket [V]. Anyway we'll just have to wait for clarification. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free kick Posted January 23, 2004 Share Posted January 23, 2004 quote:Originally posted by ray That would not be good. We need an opponent, any opponent, in a series that actually means something before we go into the second round of qualification. And, I already sent away for my ticket [V]. Anyway we'll just have to wait for clarification. Could this be mistake on the part of the news source? Maybe they mean Guatemala not Belize? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJT Posted January 23, 2004 Share Posted January 23, 2004 The following would appear to be the cause of all this: government interference once again (ie. as in the case of Guatemala). From http://www.channel5belize.com, dated Thursday, January 22, 2004: Sports Council cracks whip on F.F.B. The confrontation has been building for years. On Tuesday Cabinet decided on a course of action, yesterday the P.M. delivered the decision, and today it was left to the National Sports Council to give the details of government's latest move to break the impasse in the national crisis over football. Janelle Chanona, Reporting By all accounts, it was the most well attended press conference in recent memory, and running the full gamut of the game. Fans, club owners, players, referees, the media, and now, government officials were all there to learn the fate of the Football Federation of Belize. David Fonseca, Chairman, National Sports Council "One, The registration of the F.F.B. as a sporting organisation under the Sports Act has been cancelled. Two, the F.F.B. shall not be entitled to any of the privileges, including use of equipment and facilities, concessions or exemptions granted to a registered sporting organisation, and shall not be eligible to participate in any competitions or functions held under the auspices of the Council." The N.S.C. recommendations also include that G.O.B. not recognize the F.F.B. as an association able to represent Belize nationally and internationally. Furthermore, F.F.B. has thirty days to provide the Minister of Sports information such as audited financial statements, detailed accounts of monies received and spent in the last five years, and any other information required by the National Sports Council or its appointee during the investigation of the accounts and activities of the F.F.B. While the National Sports Council would not identify the alleged irregularities within the F.F.B. that prompted the investigation, the N.S.C. says it's on legal high ground. Christopher Coye, Secretary, Natl. Sports Council "The Sports Council is acting within the scope of the act. So long as sporting organisations are complying with the Sports Act and the requirements of the Sports Council to the extent that the Sports Council can make such requirements, then such sporting organisations can continue to carry on their activities as they deem fit. At this point in time, the most pressing issue--at least to most people--has been football and we are dealing with that at this point in time." Dr. Bertie Chimilio, President, F.F.B. "Politics, Money and Power." That's the contention of F.F.B. president Dr. Bertie Chimilio as to the government's motive for singling out his organisation for investigation. Dr. Bertie Chimilio "Personally, I think it's political interference. I believe that there are persons at the Sports Council have been trying to do this for the last five years. They have not succeeded and now they see a window of opportunity for it to succeed. And that's the reason why the situation with the B.P.F.L. cannot be solved because there are agendas and I have been saying it for years. I have been saying it for years that this thing is not just that the B.P.F.L. wanted to walk away; they are agendas of people who want to do what they want to do with football. This document is a total revamping of the football in this country. They have not said all the good things the F.F.B. has done, they only try to look at certain things. If you notice, the release only talks about the money. It's only about money, so it's obvious that the cheese is the problem, and that has been a big problem from day one and we were forewarned by FIFA and CONCACAF that this is going to be a problem." Dr. Clara Cuellar, Executive Director, N.S.C. "We are here today because when we initiated the work with the F.F.B., they have refused to cooperate with the matters we laid on the table. We have been working very closely with other sporting organisations and cooperation has been onboard because several precedents have been set prior to today in how business matters was conducted. And so as we try to take ourselves to another professional level in sport, we are collaborating with presidents of organisations on ways that Belize as a country can reach there. We have not had this lack of cooperation from any other organisation at this point in time." Big supporters of this move were the club owners of the Belize Premier Football League. Janelle Chanona "Is this just about Dr. Bertie Chimilio or are there some real core issues going on?" Daniel Fabro "I don't think it's only Dr. Chimilio because Dr. Chimilio has his executives and his people in the districts, the district chairmen as they call themselves. These, I think seven people, are who I hold personally responsible for the state of where we are today because these are the people who have Dr. Chimilio where he is right now." If the situation isn't resolved soon and FIFA suspends or expels Belize, the biggest losers of the football fallout will be our players. But those we spoke to this morning were grateful for the government intervention. Charlie Slusher, Player, Belmopan Bandits "Basically, for myself as a player, it seems that my days of international playing might be over because of the whole situation, but I'm happy about it in the sense that at least the kids, the youths of tomorrow will probably have a chance to play international." Robert Muschamp, Player, Sagitun "Even when we were under the F.F.B., Sagitun won championship and we couldn't go international, Yabra won three times, Sagitun won after that, and we still didn't go anywhere so even though while we were linked with F.F.B., we still weren't going abroad to play international games, so like right now it doesn't really matter to me." According to Dr. Chimilio, an executive meeting will be called soon so that the Football Federation of Belize can discuss Government's conditions and decide their next course of action. Of note is that one of the recommendations made is that the F.F.B. must hold elections of officers before being accepted as registered by the N.S.C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted January 23, 2004 Share Posted January 23, 2004 I think I speak for most Voyageurs when I say: "Oh $&!@ing $&!@" If this Belize match falls through, I hope the CSA gets us some summer friendlies. Yallop is going to need some quality time with our best players before we throw them in the deep end against Costa Rica and Honduras. At minimum, there will need to be a two-week camp with the full squad with a friendly or two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jeffery S. Posted January 23, 2004 Share Posted January 23, 2004 I personally feel that any advantage in official games is good for us. Not playing Belize and getting another bye is fine by me, if simply to avoid a very heated away game with players and the federation trying to prove something to the government, meaning trying to beat us at all costs. Who knows what could go on. That said, if the game goes through I hope we clobber them. But seriously folks, are you really against a bye into semis? Would it be so hard for the CSA to organize another match in Kingston to compensate? Are we driven to such an extreme state of desperation by the CSA not caring about the fans that we'll take this over anything? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dave Posted January 23, 2004 Share Posted January 23, 2004 I'm with Jeffrey on this one. Why take a chance on having the game in Belize stolen from us on a cheap fabricated penalty call? For that matter, why risk having our players injured in another Central American kick-and-foul-fest? Disqualifying the buggers just makes our job easier. Come on FIFA, let's see if you can disqualify Honduras too while you're at it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzly Posted January 23, 2004 Share Posted January 23, 2004 I find the timing of the developments in Guatemala and Belize strange. One would think the countries would try and settle these issues at a time when a suspension from Fifa wouldn't have such serious consequences. Or is Fifa just using the pressure of WCQ disqualification to try and resolve issues that it has known about for a long time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Posted January 23, 2004 Share Posted January 23, 2004 Personally, I am hoping that Honduras waltzes down the same path as Belize and Guatamala. The we can be like T & T and book our ticket to the hex! Once we are there, 3.5 spots to be decided among 6 teams, probably easier than our Semi-final is/was shaping up to be. Lots of these things Seriously, the more time Yallop has to get the team playing the way he wants them to play, the better. If Belize is dropped, then more time for camps and friendlies. And if, as I suspect, both Belize and Guatamala get their ducks in a row then we have to win. We can't worry about what is beyond our control. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gian-Luca Posted January 23, 2004 Share Posted January 23, 2004 Remember, the last time we got a bye into the semi-final round we smoked the rest of the semi-final group (before getting killed in the Hex, but that's another story). True our s-f group this time rounds will be much, much tougher, but I'm not sure that the preliminary round would make much difference to our success in the semi's. I know of one team that would be available to play a couple of friendlies on the dates that Canada was to play the preliminary round qualifiers - Belize! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beachesl Posted January 23, 2004 Share Posted January 23, 2004 Well, I know you said it kind of tongue-in-cheek, Gian-luca, but I don't think we could even play friendlies with Belize, because there is an effective quarantine in dealing with the expelled nation, so CSA could not have any dealings with them. CONCACAF is an especially corrupt organization within a corrupt FIFA. Warner's use of his office to fatten himself, his cronies, and many of his pals with other football associations has been well discussed. I'm sure that in the majority of the numerous cases in the past few years, where FIFA has expelled nations (cause that what it is, not just the associations), there are legitimate government concerns spurred on by the clubs and players involved, as well as the general population. I suspect that it is not just, in most cases, a case of FIFA reacting against "political interference". If soccer was as popular in Canada as it is in most of the world, we would probably have a history of the federal government stepping in to clean house in the CSA, if for nothing more than to end rampant inefficiency. The federal government has stepped in to reorganize Hockey Canada in the past. I would expect that if the Belize series was cancelled, then Kingston would get a semi-final match in return, as the biggest (I believe) natural grass stadium in the eastern half of Canada. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matthew Posted January 23, 2004 Share Posted January 23, 2004 The problem in Belize stems from the fact that the professional league has claimed misprorpriety by the FA, and so about 18 months ago, they split. So the two Belize league aren't under the banner of the FA and none of the (semi-)professionals are affiliated with the FA. One of the top pro clubs tried to have friendly with Commuinications of Guatemala and the Belize FA wrote the Guatemalan FA to say that this would be reported to FIFA for being an un-sanctioned match. So yes, there's no way we could play Belize even in a friendly, unless they sent an all-amateur team and if they did that we might as well play a CPSL all-star team and get much stiffer competition than Belize's amateurs would offer. Better yet we could play a real team. I thought that if the FA and the professional league didn't come to an agreement, Belize might pull out, but I never expected the sport council to step in and expell the FA. Since when were governments effective and did the right thing no matter how politically damaging. If the FA resigns and the sports council is able to get something in place I think we'll see a full strength Belize. It would be important politically to show that they're on the right path. If not I don't think this is the end of the world. I'll take a bye any day of the week and there's no reason we can't find a European friendly or someone else that weekend. cheers, matthew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Keeper Posted January 24, 2004 Share Posted January 24, 2004 This could be bitter sweet news, if they are expeled, we get a bit of a free ticket. However irrigardless of wether or not they get the boot, Canada should be getting atleast three good friendlies lined up befor we hit the semi final stage, if not four. Playing the San Jose Earthquakes and Barbados is all well and good, however this is world cup qualifying coming up and we must do more than this to prepare, even if we get the series against the Belizeans. hehe, if all works out, hopefully we will be playing some good friendlies for competition against Belize and then Cuba, either Aruba or Suriname and Honduras Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeanKeay Posted January 25, 2004 Share Posted January 25, 2004 hey why dont we just have a friendly with Guatama.... on the other hand.. nah ;P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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