Patches claims SKNFA elections corrupt, fraudulent
…seeks FIFA, CONCACAF intervention

By Ryan Haas
Reporter-SKNVibes.com

Ian ‘Patches’ Liburd walks out on the SKNFA’s July 24 elections in protest

“We will now seek the intervention of FIFA and CONCACAF officials to overturn the elections that have taken place,” said Liburd, adding that he was confident once all of the documented facts were presented the international bodies would have to intervene.

“I don’t believe it is a question of Peter Jenkins or Ian Patches. I do not believe that Peter Jenkins has won. I do not believe that Patches has won. But I know for sure that the game of football has lost. The member clubs that walked out are not going to participate under a management that is corrupt,” he stated.

A number of points have been in contention since the fracas that took place on the evening of the July 24 elections, which ultimately had to be contained by the Police and Defence Forces.

One such issue is the presence of those armed forces at the meeting.

Jenkins claims that his management team sensed there was a “plan to disrupt the meeting by the other side that was contending because they did not have a majority support of the clubs,” and therefore security forces were put in place on every floor of the new building to ensure the smooth operation of the elections.    ~~Adz:Right~~

Liburd, however, said that the security forces were brought in by the current management team to “create an atmosphere of intimidation” and bar clubs from the meeting that did not support the Jenkins’ administration.
It has been stated that Nevis’ Bath United and the St. Pauls were two such clubs that followed the voting accreditation procedures set forth by the management team and were yet barred from voting by the Supervisor of the Elections, Glenn Jeffers.

Perhaps the most important debate over the elections has been the question of who should have been allowed to vote.

“When the fracas ended there were 20-some clubs, and they voted overwhelmingly [to keep the current management]. So, I do not understand what the argument is,” Jenkins commented about the process to SKNVibes last week.

Liburd subsequently claimed that many of the clubs that voted are “shell clubs,” meaning that they have not actually played football in the league for several years. He produced reports for SKNVibes, authored by Jenkins at the end of each football season, which stated that there were only 23, 25 and 24 active competing clubs in the 2005, 2006 and 2007 seasons, respectively.

According to Jenkins, 33 member clubs were eligible to vote at the July 24 elections. Both men have cited the SKNFA constitution as being on their side and precedence being set in previous elections. 

“You can’t just exist when it is an election year, so [Jenkins] has brought in seven or eight clubs in an election year to pad out the vote. That is a real issue that we have,” Liburd said when asked to comment on the allegedly defunct teams.

Both men have also claimed that the voting rights of the existing management team are outlined by the constitution in their favor. Jenkins alleges that the management has the right to vote in the elections, while Liburd says that clause 61 in Section 12 of the constitution states that management seats are vacant and do not have voting power once elections are called.

A combination of these factors subsequently led 13voting clubs to walk out of the elections, seven of which belong to the Premier Division. Liburd stated that had the clubs stayed and there had been no padding of the vote, Jenkins would have failed to win a fourth term in office.

Other allegations backed by documents of the Liburd camp claim that the decline of community leagues, lack of fiscal transparency and non-focus on the national team have led to the state of the game in the Federation to be “really at an all time low”. ~~Adz:Right~~

In 2005, St. Kitts-Nevis was ranked sixth in the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) and 120th in FIFA standings.
“As I speak to you we are ranked 14th in the CFU and 160th in the FIFA ranking. So, these numbers tell you that we are declining,” cited Liburd.

Reconciliation of the Jenkins and Liburd camps has seemed increasingly unlikely as details about what transpired at the meeting continue to be debated.

Jenkins claims that the President of the St. Peters Club, Donald Freeman, slapped him, threw a chair and smashed the ballot box over the course of the proceedings.

Liburd, however, said that these allegations are “absolutely false” and “are not helping the situation whatsoever”.

“We will only speak to [Jenkins] if he is willing to sit down and say, ‘we went wrong. Let us put some reparation measures in place’,” the presidential canidate said. “One such is to declare the elections null and void.”

Jenkins said that while he was not pleased with how the elections were held, their results should still be seen as valid.

“I would hope that the election [with a 23-1 vote in favor of Jenkins as president] would have said clearly to everybody what the direction the association wants to go in.”

Liburd’s camp has nearly compiled all of the documents they plan to submit to FIFA and CONCACAF officials and are expected to begin proceedings with those officials within the next week.

“I would never condone any disorderly conduct in any meeting, period, but I do believe that the Mugabe-style approach of Peter Jenkins is highly inappropriate for the association, and I believe FIFA and CONCACAF will clearly see this,” said Liburd.

An unscientific poll run by SKNVibes on July 25 revealed that 63 percent of those who voted were of the opinion that Liburd’s management team should have won the elections.