ALL 31 member-associations of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) are expected to be represented at the Sheraton Airport Hotel in Miami tomorrow when they convene to elect an executive for the Regional body.Presidential candidate and incumbent leader, Gordon Derrick will be hard-pressed to retain his position against the highly favoured Trinidadian David John Williams in the two-man race for the top post, after the USVI’s Hillaren Frederick withdrew his candidacy two days ago.
Both Williams and Derrick are confident of prevailing at the polls and have circulated their manifestos among the members in which they proclaim the realisation of a Caribbean Professional League (CPL) as one of their objectives once voted into office.
Antiguan Derrick was elected CFU’s head in May of 2012, one year following the disgraceful end of Trinidadian Jack Warner who ruled the regional body from 1983 after the death of the first president Andre Kamperveen of Suriname who served from 1978 to 1982.
Derrick believes he has the support of the majority of the CFU membership, hence he is ‘confidently optimistic’ of retaining his presidency.
Earlier in the year Derrick was barred from contesting the elections of CONCACAF by FIFA’s Ethics Committee, a decision he has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) and is awaiting their decision.
The statutes of CFU do not allow for candidates to undergo integrity checks so the Antiguan FA’s General Secretary will vie to hold on to his post for another four years.
The Derrick-led administration of CFU has been under the microscope of CONCACAF in recent times, with a forensic audit revealing a secret bank account and liabilities worth over $1M. All grants and payments to CFU have been stopped and salaries of Administrative staff are being paid directly by CONCACAF.
Trinidadian Williams is also no stranger to the ‘Beautiful Game’. He is the owner of T&T’s Pro team W Connection which he established in 1999 and last year November he was elected to head the Trinidad and Tobago FA (TTFA).
Williams says his mission is to ‘redefine the CFU’s vision, mission and core values’ and has indicated the commitment of UEFA, once he is elected, to assist with establishing a Professional League in the Caribbean. At a recent meeting held in Port of Spain with most member associations Williams released his manifesto and feels his vision was well accepted and remains upbeat at becoming the new head for Caribbean football.
In addition to electing a president, the other positions to be voted for are four vice-presidents and four executive committee members. Guyana Football Federation’s (GFF) boss, Wayne Forde, is among nine candidates seeking the four positions.
Forde will be accompanied to Miami by second vice-president of the GFF, Rawlston Adams.