2 weeks ago, we told you about an internal agitation that's taking place within the Cycling Federation of Belize.
Several members of the sport have served the executive of the Federation with a petition to trigger an extraordinary General Meeting. They are demanding that an early election takes place for the executive posts because in their view, the COVID Pandemic has been used as an excuse to forgo that process long enough.
Well, we've seen a response on that petition, which the secretary of the Cycling Federation has written to Kaya Cattouse. They identify her as "the Agent of the Petition", which basically has been denied.
The letter says that the petition was delivered on Tuesday, February 10, 2022, yet it was dated January 17, 2022.
The Secretary concludes, quote, "The request to hold elections before February 2022 is further erroneous as the legal notice period has not been observed".
You'll remember how two of the would-be challengers to the current executive accused them of not doing much to advance the sport in these pandemic times. Well, the secretary goes on to spell out in great detail the number of cycling events that the Federation has held, or is preparing to hold on behalf of athletes.
The Secretary then insists that multiple individuals who signed on to the petition have since withdrawn their support either in writing or verbally. The secretary then suggests that there was "underhandedness" or dishonesty which was used to convince those signatories to the petition. There is the assertion that quote, "...The Federation is considering its legal and other options."
Well, we have since contacted members of the cycling camp that has initiated this petition, and they insist that all signatories were well aware of the reason for the petition and that they did NOT mislead any of the participants.
They tell us that in their opinion, the Federation is doing the bare minimum to keep the sport alive during the pandemic and that if they really wanted to, they could have held AGMs virtually. The formal response from the Federation says that it would be against their bylaws to conduct such an exercise.
The dissenting camp is also suggesting that some of the signatories withdrew their support out of fear of repercussions from the executive that's currently in office.
