Last night, we told you about a decision by the Football Federation of Belize's Electoral Appeal Committee, which says that most recent election results, in which President Sergio Chuc and his administration were re-elected to the executive, is null and void.
Chuc, and other incumbents from his administration, including Cruz Gamez and Marlon Kuylen, were re-elected in a congress held at their Belmopan Headquarters on August 22nd. That congress was first scheduled for a venue in San Ignacio, but because it was illegal to hold gatherings bigger than 10 people, the Barrow Government obliged them to hold it outdoors at their Belmopan Headquarters with COVID social distancing protocols.
Chuc went on to win his presidency by a wide margin, but shortly after that, his political opponents lodged a formal appeal of election results. They were insisting that he and his administration violated FFB Statutes and the federation's Electoral Code.
Well, a recent decision from the FFB's Electoral Appeal's Committee is agreeing with them. A decision, penned by the Chair of the Committee, Jacqueline Willoughby, says that the Ordinary congress is unlawful. She also finds that the agenda was unlawfully discarded and that the mentioned team did not have any lawful voting rights. And most importantly, she thinks that the elections were unlawfully conducted, and such, they are null and void.
This afternoon, we spoke via teleconference with the President, Sergio Chuc, about this appeal, and already he is disputing the validity of the ruling. Firstly, he says that the complaint from the appellants should not have gone to the Appeal's Committee. He says that it should have been examined by one of the first-instance judicial committees, and if any of the litigants disagreed with the first ruling, only then should it have gone to the Electoral Appeal Committee. Think of it like a litigant skipping the Supreme Court and going instead to the Court of Appeal to litigate their dispute.
Secondly, Chuc says that from his investigation, this decision is being backed by only the Chair and not the entire Electoral Appeal Committee.
Here's how he explained these and other grievances that he has with the decision, which seeks to nullify the most recent election results:
Sergio Chuc - President, FFB
"It was a complaint [that] he had had on the process. So, that complaint should have gone to the disciplinary and ethics committee. In any event, it was too late to go to the disciplinary and ethics committee, and any of the judicial bodies. According to our electoral code, and our statutes, if you have a problem with a ruling on the field or off the field, any problem you have, once the decision is made, you have exactly 3 days within to appeal. Those documents reached the Federation electronically on the 1st of September. That's is almost 10 days after the decision was done. So, technically, that could have not even been looked at, so the secretary-general advised the chairlady to return the documents to the rightful owner. So, we were surprised when we saw this ruling last night."
"What has transpired this is the opinion has been shared with FIFA and CONCACAF, to let them review it. I've been told a while ago by the general secretary that he has made contact with the other members of the committee because he wants to know how much people supported the decision and how much distention there was. And lo and behold, it is an opinion of one person and not the committee. The rest of the committee members are at a loss about where this opinion came from. They don't have any knowledge about it."
"We continue with business as usual today. If the other committee members would have signed on to it, then I think it would have been something that we have to respect because we've come a long way, here at the FFB to improve the image, and to make it a respectable organization. It was under my tenure that we implemented these independent judicial bodies, so that when somebody is aggrieved, then they could look at it and pass a resolution. So, the federation has come a long way, we would respect it. But, it would have to come from the complete judicial body, not from one person."
Reporter
"Do you any instance where you and your executive will have to step down?"
Sergio Chuc
"No, I don't see that happening. The Congress is the supreme body, is the highest body of the Football Federation of Belize. The Congress was consulted in moving the venue from San Ignacio to Belmopan. And they agreed. They showed up; 100% of the congress showed up. When we decided to just hold the elections 20 of the 21 delegates voted in favor of going directly to the election. We had one abstention, and when the elections were conducted, every single congress member voted."
As you heard, the FFB is seeking advice from the sport's regional governing bodies on how to proceed with this issue.
