What next for SSFL? Merere clears air on Moruga, Miracle Ministries scandal

“[…] SSFL president Merere Gonzales: Gerald Elliot, as assistant secretary/ treasurer (administration) is responsible for registration issues… In addition to that, because of the magnitude of the registration, the League found it necessary to employ him for a period of time between September to December to assist with managing primarily that particular portfolio, which fell down badly this year.

I believe the League over the last few years, because of the magnitude of the work, decided on a specific stipend to deal with that.

Wired868: So, let me get this correct. It is Elliot’s job, according to the constitution, to deal with registration. However, because it’s a lot of work, the general council decided to pay someone to do it—and they chose to hire the same person whose job it was to do registration in the first place? […]”

The following is an interview by Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) president Merere Gonzales with Wired868, in the wake of the registration scandal involving Moruga Secondary and Miracle Ministries Pentecostal High School (MMPHS), who were stripped of their zonal crowns before being reinstated by an Arbitration Committee ruling:

Wired868: So, what’s your response to the case involving Moruga Secondary and Miracle Ministries Pentecostal High School (MMPHS)?

Merere Gonzales: It is a relief. I am relieved, recognising what the Arbitration Committee’s ruling was eventually […] which is primarily what I was looking at, based on the information I had before me.

Credit to the various committees for putting in the work that they did. And for the Arbitration Committee for dealing with the information that was put before them and making a decision that was justifiably pleasing to most if not everyone: in particular our stakeholders, the 100-plus member schools, the parents, guardian, well-wishers, and more importantly the sponsors we have on board with us.

It is highly regrettable, rather unfortunate and quite disheartening that a situation like that should have occurred—because if proper scrutiny and mechanisms were implemented by the entity concerned, it should have been discovered at a different point in time. It would have been dealt with earlier.

Nevertheless, it is what it is. It is an experience we have to learn from, and our intention as a League going forward is to put a machinery in place with a structure and a system that could totally eradicate the registration issue if not minimise it from happening.

The governance structure needs to be addressed in the context of what people are held responsible for and they have to deliver when called up.

Wired868: Is this an issue that the SSFL has drawn a line under? Or is there more to come on it?

Gonzales: It is one in which a line is drawn under. I don’t think something of this nature has happened before, and by that I mean in the context of the Big Five boys being now shifted from the current season and into the following year, which is what is taking place.

But this is what happens when you are in a leadership position or administrative position. It is not about being reactive but proactive and providing the best solutions to get the best [outcome]. And, as we move forward, to try and avoid it from recurring.

In the context of whether there is more to come, it would have to be changing the present structure that is in place in terms of what is not workable and getting something that is more meaningful, efficient, effective, and beneficial to the league at large.

Wired868: Can you give us any ideas you might have to do that?

Gonzales: I’ve shared this with you before, but it wouldn’t hurt to repeat it. One of the options is to deal with all the preliminary lower division registrations in the post-season. I am talking about the May, June and July period.

Then the only thing you will be left with is the Premiership and Championship divisions. And the only reason why is simply because those individuals at that level, most of them are doing CSEC or maybe CAPE and we have to await the outcome from the ministry…

Wired868: I think one of the reasons the Disciplinary Committee and Appeals Committee ruled the way they did is because the constitution puts all the responsibility for registration on the schools. Is that something the SSFL executive will look at, considering the advice from the arbitration panel?

Gonzales: They have identified that that is an area that has to be addressed and it was further reiterated by the Arbitration Committee.

What is presently in the League is what we have before us, sticking by the letter of the law; and in some cases, it is not as clear as it ought to be. And therefore, it is supposed to be a ruling that allows the League to take responsibility—in working in conjunction with the information coming from the respective schools—that, based on what you have provided to us before the commencement of the season and we have ticked off all the various boxes, now you are committed and sanction is given to you to play.

That is an approach we need to definitely take.

If, however, during the season there is a breach [in the use] of a certain player, we will have to address that accordingly. If it means extending the 72-hour period [to register a player] to a longer period of time, to ensure that everybody is on board legitimately, then we will look into doing that.

Wired868: We all know of the serious sanctions that Moruga and MMPHS faced—but what sanctions should the officials involved in this scandal face? Is an apology enough?

Gonzales: I must say we must credit ourselves as the League—and I am thinking of all facets and assets that make up the league. We have democracy at work in allowing the processes to unfold.

[…] And while there are penalties like you say for breach of rules and regulations of the League, persons must understand there is also something called the honourable thing.

Apologies are there and they are good—it is something I have been advancing for some time—but the pain, the inconvenience, the discomfort and distress incurred by all parties concerned and in particular the two schools…

It needs to be addressed at an executive level and from there it goes on to an extraordinary meeting and, if necessary, the highest decision-making body in the League which is the general council. From there we can decide if persons are to be removed.

Is it just missteps, is it just lack of competencies, is it ineptitude? If we are to be moving forward in a professional way, it may very well be that some persons right now are squares in round holes—and for that we need to fix it, and fix it urgently and expeditiously.

Wired868: Who reported Miracle Ministries and Moruga to the Credentials Committee? And if the Credentials Committee did not know those teams were improperly registered, how could two anyone else know?

Gonzales: That is a really good question. I was informed that the [query of the] issues pertaining to the schools came from Ste Madeleine Secondary and Carapichaima East Secondary. It is not something I am convinced by—but it is what was conveyed.

Wired868: Why do you say you are not convinced by that?

Gonzales: There are some questionable things that are impacting on that statement that it came from the schools. How did the schools know about those things?

I mean it is possible but… I don’t want to spend too much time speculating there. It is something that still has to be noted and to be mindful of going forward.

And more importantly, it should have been discovered even before. In the game of football, if an injured player is on the ground and there is no clear goalscoring opportunity, the referee needs to do the right and the honourable thing and stop the game so the injured player can be treated.

Don’t wait for the players from the next team to kick the ball out. It means you are surrendering your authority of the game… If the checks and balances were not totally done, that is where the league has to take that level of blame and responsibility.

Wired868: If a member of your executive has been leaking information for other schools to take advantage of, what is your view on that?

Gonzales: It would be breaching major protocol and respect for the organisation as well as collective responsibility. As long as the facts are there pertaining to anyone who is of that thinking and practice, then I think that person ought not to be in office holding positions where they are given [such] responsibilities.

Wired868: Is this a good time for you to explain the honorarium paid to SSFL committee members?

Gonzales: Remember in 1964 [when the SSFL started], we would have had maybe 10 schools involved. And every year more schools began to get interested in football and were being added—and now we have over 100-plus.

So, where we had a zone with 10 or 15 schools and maybe two divisions, now one zone, like the East, has 30 schools and some of them are playing in three or four divisions.

It is more work for the officers, who are limited in number, to manage. So, we had to give a little assistance and incentive to the officers in the zones and even at the national level.

Here is where, at general council level, it was decided to give an honorarium or a stipend at the end of the year for services rendered.

Wired868: How are those figures calculated and what sort of figures are we talking about? Do we have a maximum or a minimum?

Gonzales: Well, a zonal secretary gets $4,000 for the year… The president, myself, receives $6,000, which really and truly, for the amount of work I do, I know it’s supposed to be more than that—but suffice to say this is what I met when I came in. Maybe as time goes on it will change.

The vice-president gets $4,500. The assistant secretaries get $4,000. The general secretary and the office administrator, who are employed and work full time for the league, get $5,000 per month. That was voted upon by the general council.

The zonal chairmen and other officers get $1,500.

Wired868: What do you get for serving on a committee?

Gonzales: You do not get paid for serving on a committee. What happens is at the end of the year, you get one payment based on your position. For instance, if you are a zonal secretary and also on the national executive, whichever figure is higher, you get that. You can’t get paid for your zonal job and your national job.

The honorarium covers everything you do.

In the case of the general secretary and the office administrator, they are employed by the league on a daily basis and receive a monthly salary. It is the same for Elliot, who works for the Credentials Committee. He receives $5,000 per month but he doesn’t get money for the other posts.

Wired868: Can you explain how the Credentials Committee is formed?

Gonzales: Because the Credentials Committee deals with data from every zone, those are functions that the various zonal secretaries and the general secretary Azaad Khan already manage. So, it is a case of Azaad coordinating the secretaries of the various zones.

If you go back to the constitution, Gerald Elliot, as assistant secretary/ treasurer (administration) is responsible for registration issues… In addition to that, because of the magnitude of the registration, the League found it necessary to employ him for a period of time between September to December to assist with managing primarily that particular portfolio which fell down badly this year.

I believe the League over the last few years, because of the magnitude of the work, decided on a specific stipend to deal with that. So, it was an extension of what he was doing.

(Editor’s Note: Under Duties of Officers (article 8), the SSFL Constitution declares that Elliot’s job, as assistant secretary/ treasurer (administration), includes “[…] (being) specifically responsible for the registration of players and related matters”.)

Wired868: So, let me get this correct. It is Elliot’s job, according to the constitution, to deal with registration. However, because it’s a lot of work, the general council decided to pay someone to do it—and they chose to hire the same person whose job it was to do registration in the first place?

Gonzales: With all due respect, for him to get in that position, it came to general council and was decided and voted upon.

Wired868: So, Elliot said he needed help and the general council hired him to help himself? The general council felt the registration job was too much work for Elliot as assistant secretary/ treasurer (admin), so they then paid him more to do the same job?!

Isn’t it the same one person who could not cope with the job before?

Gonzales: I think what happened—regrettably to say the least and unfortunately and, to a certain extent, dishonestly too—is that with that major responsibility that Elliot has, he was doing a multitude of other things too.

He is zonal secretary, and he is national assistant secretary (admin). He is also on the player development committee, he is on the credentials committee, he is on the disciplinary committee—and now he has this special role to deal with registration. I have already called six areas.

To me as the president, and I am going to articulate that and I hope the members understand, we have to correct that. Persons may have to understand that you are on too many committees and you have to relieve yourself of some.

If you can’t relieve yourself, then we will have to relieve you of it.

SSFL Committees

Disciplinary: Essiel Seecharan (chair), Gerald Elliot, Laurence Seepersad, Azaad Khan, Trevor Bridglalsingh, Kurt Harry, Joseph Taylor, Arlon James, Barrington Richardson, Martin Edmund, Roger Martin.

Fixtures: Azaad Khan (chair), Laurence Seepersad (Central secretary), Kurt Harry (East secretary), Roger Martin (North secretary), Gerald Elliot (South secretary), Syandene Blackman-Walsh (Tobago secretary).

Credentials: Azaad Khan (chair), Laurence Seepersad (Central secretary), Kurt Harry (East secretary), Roger Martin (North secretary), Gerald Elliot (South secretary), Syandene Blackman-Walsh (Tobago secretary).

Player Development: Syandene Blackman-Walsh (chair), Gerald Elliot, Laurence Seepersad, Dwayne Davis (East rep), Cy Sarjeant (Central rep), Brian Smith (North rep), Nolan Bernard (South rep), Richard Goddard (Tobago rep).

Website: Essiel Seecharan (chair), Laurence Seepersad (Central rep), Tacuma Jones (East rep), Ryan Smith (North rep), Ravi Ramgoolam (South rep), Oralyn Lincoln (Tobago rep).

Match commissioners: Laurence Seepersad (chair), Adesh Dwarika, Kurt Harry.

Appeals: Andre Moses (chair), Derek West, Phillip Fraser, Forbes Persaud, Howard Spencer, Leo Brathwaite, Michael Din Chong, Richard Baboolal, Rudolph Hope.

Arbitration: Anthony Creed (chair), Alfred Wafe, Bernard Gibbs, Dr Kenwyn Taylor, Ewing Davis, Justin Latapy-George, Ruben Hansraj, Theophilus Trim, William Wallace.

(Editor’s Note: The committee chair, Gonzales explained, decides on the two or four members to sit on any particular matter. If the chair is absent, another senior committee member takes up that responsibility. Azaad Khan, as general secretary, is an ex officio member of all committees.)

Wired868: What is Elliot’s job title and duties as an employee of the Credentials Committee?

Gonzales: There is no contract. When the general council voted, it was for an individual to work closely in the office for the hectic period to deal primarily with registration. So, his duties are to provide additional assistance to the general secretary.

It is something we will have to get a contract on and give the terms and conditions with roles and responsibilities—whether it stays with one person or goes to a committee.

Wired868: Is it to the benefit of schools’ football that some people hold multiple positions?

Gonzales: It is something that we will have to return to the front burner. (He gave an example of a committee chair who has complained about being unable to perform properly in a key role related to benefits for student-athletes, due to the multitude of responsibilities.)

It has to reach to a point where we curtail people and ask them to focus on certain areas and spread out [the committee positions] for other people to come in and [contribute]. Not one person being on five, six or seven committees—that shouldn’t be. For example, people like Gerald Elliot and even Laurence Seepersad.

Seepersad is the secretary of the Central Zone, the assistant secretary at the national level for operations, he is on the player development committee, he is on the website committee, he is the chairperson of the match commissioners committee. He is on the credentials committee, he is on the disciplinary committee. I reach about seven already! That is too much.

What will happen is you are unable to give quality service because you are spreading yourself too thin, and there are other persons in the organisation who can make a contribution—so give them an opportunity.

But I think what happens is some people want to have their pulse on things and to be able to [gather] information.