Tomlinson

Western Bureau:

Everton Tomlinson, who was re-elected unopposed to serve a third consecutive term as chairman of the Jamaica Football Federation's Western Confederation (JFFWC) three weeks ago, is now facing a no-confidence motion mounted by the confederation's executive.

"Yes. It is true that we have a motion on the table," said the JFFWC vice-chairman Craig Oates, responding to a query from The Gleaner yesterday.

"We have sent the relevant documentation off to the JFF so it is not prudent to discuss the issue any further at this time."

Subsequent to the interview with Oates, a source close to the JFFWC provided The Gleaner with signed copies of the no-confidence motion and a letter to JFFWC general secretary, Carol Gentles, calling for a special general meeting within 14 days to deal with the motion.

The letter to Gentles, which was signed by Oates, St. James FA president Orville Powell and treasurer Sheridan Samuels, called for, as per se the JFF's constitution, an extraordinary general meeting within 14 days to deal with the no-confidence motion. The letter was copied to the JFF general secretary, Horace Reid, and all the confederation's parish presidents. Among the numerous concerns about Tomlinson's leadership that were outlined in the no-confidence motion were the following:

The chairman's failure to come up with a comprehensive plan for the confederation as was promised at the last AGM;

The absence of a vision for football, and the disunity among the parishes in the confederation;

The chairman's autocratic manner, which is stifling the opinion of other executive members;

The chairman's reneging on an agreement on fiscal prudence, bypassing the treasurer and signing cheques.

CONCERNS

In the build-up to the recent confederation elections, which returned Tomlinson to the JFFWC unopposed, officials of the St. James FA refused to participate, citing their concerns about fiscal irregularities and a rejection of their call for probity.

The situation, which led to the current no-confidence motion, was reportedly sparked by a contentious JFFWC meeting last Wednesday night when an irate Tomlinson reportedly used several expletives and walked out of the meeting after questions were raised about his leadership and the organisation's lack of transparency in recent years.

"I was at the meeting and was really embarrassed by the chairman's action," said Powell. "There are internal mechanisms to deal with such breaches, so I would not want to discuss any measures that are likely to be taken in a detailed way."

Repeated attempts to get in touch with Tomlinson for a comment proved futile as a source at the Westmoreland FA said he was busily making arrangement to leave the island yesterday afternoon and was therefore unavailable to speak to the media.

During the life of the previous administration, the confederation suffered a major body blow when former treasurer, Mark Calvin, was implicated in the fraudulent withdrawal of funds from the Western Referees Group. In his subsequent letter of resignation, he admitted his guilt and promised to refund the money.

- Adrian Frater