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Fri, Mar

TTSL Interim President Jameson Rigues
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Jameson Rigues, reign of interim president of the T&T Super League will continue for the foreseeable future after the annual general meeting (AGM) which had on its agenda the elections of a new leader was halted due to disturbances by the membership on Sunday.

The highlight of AGM which was held virtually was expected to be the contesting of the post of President of T&TSL between Rigues and former national football team captain Clayton Morris.

Rigues, the manager of Guaya FC manager and Morris, coach of the University of T&T (UTT) were the only candidates for the position of President.

At the nomination, Rigues was nominated by his club and seconded by Petit Valley/Diego Martin United while Morris was nominated by Club Sando and seconded by Bethel United, but the meeting never get past that stage.

Contacted for comment, former T&T Football Association (TTFA) board member Boris Punch, the current chairman of the TTSL Elections Committee confirmed the elections was called to a halt without the post of President being acted upon.

The outcome of today’s AGM may well be accepted by Rigues for the time being as last week he told Guardian Media Sports that he felt the that he should be at the helm as Interim President until post coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic which will allow for elections to be held in person or until the Public Health guidelines from the Ministry of Health are as such that the elections can be held.

While Rigues was against the holding of the AGM, the other existing board members, Second Vice President Eddison Dean, and elected members Colin Murray, Terry Joseph and Anderson Veronique, were all in favour of the elections taking place.

However, in a release to the media on Sunday Rigues, the TTSL Interim President stated that he had to close the TTSL AGM 2020 due to deliberate disruptive actions of certain elements to usurp the proper conduct of the Meeting.

Rigues pointed out that there were attempts by the TTSL League Secretary, Peter Thomas and accomplices to usurp the TTSL AGM 2020 with their deliberate disruptive actions and despite his exercising an abundance of patience he had no choice but to call the meeting which was convened at 11:30 am to a close at 1:42 pm.

Rigues lamented the fact that despite the darkness of the turbulent time for Trinidad and Tobago football during the past nine-month period, there are those within the ranks of the football fraternity bent on being obstructionists at every opportunity.

Rigues stated, “I have requested a report of the AGM based on the recording of the virtual meeting and despite the disruptive actions today, I wish to confirm my intention to have the proper conduct of the business of the T&T Super League to ensure the rights of the entire membership are respected and guaranteed in keeping with the TTSL Constitution and Bye-Laws, all within the TTFA Family.” November 29th 2020 Interim President, TTSL

On Saturday, Rigues in another letter to the media attempted to have the election of President left vacant by Keith Look Loy postponed as he felt it would have served the body better to hold the AGM in person than via a virtual forum.

Rigues noted that according to the Constitution and Bye-Laws of the Trinidad and Tobago Super League (TTSL) he had taken all necessary precautions well within his mandate and responsibilities to ensure the strict and proper operation of the TTSL within the Constitution and Bye-Laws, Statutes and Codes of the T&T Super League with particular reference to our TTSL AGM 2020.

He added, “As you are aware, the Members of the Board of the TTSL have set November 29th 2020 as the date to host the TTSL AGM 2020 and the members of the Board have also stated that the AGM will be hosted virtually and you have been provided with the Agenda.

However, he noted that having received the expressed major concern of certain members of the TTSL concerning the fact that the ‘Election of President’ is listed on the Agenda, which is in contravention with the directions of the TTSL Constitution, Article 26.1 that states; “Elections shall be conducted by position and shall be conducted by secret ballot” and the TTSL Bye-Laws, Article 30.1, which also states; “Elections shall be conducted by position and shall be conducted by secret ballot” I dispatched two letters in this regard to seek the best manner of ensuring the strict and proper operation of the TTSL.

Based on those observations Rigues who had written to Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith on November 13, for permission to host the TTSL AGM at a venue that would provide for live assembly within the COVID-19 restrictions of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and also rote to Robert Hadad, the head of the Fifa installed Normalization Committee on November 23 to enquire whether an “Election for President” was considered acceptable to the TTFA and by extension FIFA was against the staging of the elections.


SOURCE: T&T Guardian