Ambassadors launch athletics bid

A MASSIVE show of support is expected when Brigadier Carl Alfonso officially launches his bid today for the presidency of the National Amateur Athletics Association (NAAA). The retired Chief of Defence Staff heads a list of officials who are attempting to unseat Ken Doldron in elections to be held on November 20 in the Audio Visual Room of the Hasely Crawford Stadium at Mucurapo. Brigadier Alfonso is scheduled to outline the manifesto of his team, who have named themselves the “Ambassadors for Track and Field” at a function starting at 10 am at Fatima Avenue, Bushe  Street, Curepe. Also in the race for the presidency is former secretary Rawle Raphael. On Tuesday, Ashwin Creed said that the elections, which are expected to be one of the closest ever, will be a referendum on the performance of Doldron during his three-year term of office.

“There is a big question mark on transparency and accountability and the leadership leaves much to be desired,” said Creed, Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of  Public Utilities. He said Brigadier Alfonso has an outstanding track record working behind the scenes to support track and field, using his own money on several occasions to fund sports meetings. Also giving his unqualified backing for the former president of the Basketball Federation was Winston Lopez, Assistant Superinten-dent of Police. “One needs not to be actively involved in the sport to be a good manager. Brigadier Alfonso shows that he is an excellent administrator and will prove he can be an asset to the organisation,” said Lopez. Creed defended himself against charges made by Doldron in a radio programme last weekend on i95.5FM hosted by sports commentator Andre E Baptiste.

And contrary to what Doldron had stated, Creed maintained he does not have any outstanding report as Technical Director of last year’s Carifta Games which were staged in Trinidad and Tobago. “The only persons who are mandated to produce reports are the Secretary of the Organising Committee and the Treasurer. Never in the history of the Carifta Games has a Technical Director asked to submit a report,” said Creed. Creed also criticised Doldron for not giving members of the NAAA executive full information about the contract with Adidas which is one of the burning issues in the upcoming elections. And he pointed out that if no details of the controversial contract are forthcoming, the Freedom of Information Act, passed by Parliament into law can be used to prise out the information.

He also charged that for the past three years no financial reports have been submitted by the Doldron Administration specifically referring to Income/Expenditure State-ments and a Balance Sheet. “We have to resist any effort to have these documents tabled at the AGM. This kind of document must be given to members in advance to study and not rushed through,” said Creed. He also criticised Doldron for failing to implement a Strategic Plan which was drafted on the president’s initiative together with Olympic gold medallist Hasely Crawford and was approved by the NAAA executive. “This was a plan to put the NAAA on a sound financial footing and to reduce dependency on the State coffers but was never executed. He must say why it wasn’t,” said Creed. He said the Ambassadors will place emphasis on the athletes who are the major stakeholders in track and field.