THERE ARE three major football elections coming up in the next month that will matter to us.
The first will be in a couple of weeks as the regional body, CONCACAF, meets to choose a replacement for Jeffrey Webb, who was mentioned in the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s net on alleged corruption and is now in the United States to answer charges related to that matter.
The second will be on February 26 to find a successor to current suspended president of football’s governing body, FIFA, Sepp Blatter.
The third will be in our own backyard as members will elect a new executive to run the affairs of the Barbados Football Association (BFA) in March.
Naturally, home drums beat first, so that is the first one that will come under my microscope. No matter who is in line to be elected to high office, it is the election of a president that commands the greatest attention, and so it should be, as the individual becomes the standard bearer of the organisation’s principles, standards and vision.
Top man
Randy Harris is the top man and it is likely that he will be challenged, even though none of his possible challengers have stated their intentions publicly, but as the saying goes, I’m standing by for coming attractions in that respect.
In an election, it is common to judge incumbents on their stewardship in office while considering what the pretenders to the throne have to bring to the table. The incumbent has his record to stand on, but you can’t be sure what the challengers would do, especially if they have never held the president’s position and consequently have no track record to stand on.
This scenario only changes, of course, if the incumbent’s performance has been open to challenges that there is a universal cry for their removal. I honestly can’t say that I have heard such a claim against Harris during his four-year term. Not that he has been perfect, but generally he has received positive feedback.
Fewer accusations
First on his agenda was to bring greater accountability and transparent governance to the BFA and I have heard fewer accusations of malpractices associated with this administration juxtaposed to some of the past since I started to cover football in 1976. He will regard this as a plus.
Under his leadership, there has been a concerted effort to have more certified coaches at all levels for both genders and the grassroots programmes have intensified as mandated by FIFA. There has also been an effort to upgrade the facility at Wildey, which was started by the previous Ronald Jones administration, but was stalled for a long period.
Harris’ personal stocks have also risen tremendously as he sits on FIFA’s beach soccer committee and is part of a high profile committee, led by former Jamaican prime minister P.J. Patterson, working on recommendations for a full-fledged professional league in the English-speaking Caribbean. He is regularly rostered in the role of match commissioner for international games too.
I think the jury, though, is still out on the progress of women’s football at the parochial level in respect of whether it has been embraced fully and whether we should be satisfied with the stage we have reached with the men’s senior, national team.
Honestly, I believe we were seeing some light with the seniors under the guidance of Brazilian Marcos Falopa, until the unfortunate situation which brought our run in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers to an unceremonious end. I felt we were in a good position to replicate the performance of the 2000 team that took us to the semi-final round in the CONCACAF plays-offs before the yellow card blunder.
Opportunity
It was huge, and you have to ponder if the weight of primarily that blunder should be used to deny Harris the opportunity to continue his work at the head of the association.
Joel Garner was at the helm of the Barbados Cricket Association’s debacle with the Jeff Miller controversy but survived any backlash. Will Harris be as fortunate?
In my estimation, I have seen more to applaud than to criticise, but I don’t have a vote. Those who do, will make their determination at the time of balloting.
Both the FIFA and CONCACAF elections will be related as both bodies have a major repair job to do on their image in light of ongoing investigations regarding alleged corruption. Both have people who have been severely sanctioned and others who could be facing lengthy jail terms if found guilty of charges on which they have been accused.
It is universally accepted that the world’s most popular sport needs to clean its house, from top to bottom, to ensure that cash that comes mainly through sponsorship and television rights, can be properly accounted for at all times.
• Andi Thornhill is an experienced sports journalist and media consultant.
