BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) – Caribbean Football Union (CFU) president Randy Harris and outspoken Cricket West Indies (CWI) director, Conde Riley, were recipients of Barbados Independence honours on Monday.

The Independence honours formed part of the celebrations of Barbados’ 54th anniversary of political independence from Britain, and Harris, president of Barbados Football Association (BFA), and Riley, president of Barbados Cricket Association (BCA), were honoured for their contribution to their respective sports.

They both received the third highest national honours – the Gold Crown of Merit – for their contribution to the biggest two sports in the island.

Harris, a sales executive, has been involved in football in Barbados and the Caribbean for the past 40 years.

He has been BFA president for the past eight years and recently ran unopposed in the association’s elections this year for his third four-year term.

In 2017, Harris was also elected to serve as a board member of the CFU, and when the post of senior vice-president became vacant in the same year, he was elected to that position.

He also served as acting president of CFU after former president Gordon Derrick vacated the post in the latter half of 2017 and was elected to the top post in June 2018.

Harris was also elected CONCACAF’s newest vice-president by acclamation, when the continental governing body for the sport in North, Central America and the Caribbean staged its congress during the 2018 World Cup in Moscow. He will serve in the position until 2022.

Riley, a retired investment banker, was first elected to BCA’s board in 1996 and, except for one year, has served Barbados’ cricket for the past 21 years.

He has been BCA president for the past three years, winning re-election for a second two-year term last year.

Riley was elected as director of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), now CWI, in 2006 and has served as a member of the Finance, Pension and Provident Fund, Cricket Development and Human Resource Development Committees.

He was also the event manager for Barbados hosting the ICC Twenty20 World Cup 2010, including the final.

Riley held responsibility for cricket operations, logistics, security and entertainment. His team was complimented for an efficient and incident-free leg.

In 2014, he was appointed by CWI as one of its three directors on the six-member Cricket Tournament Committee of the Caribbean Premier League, which has responsibility for the integrity of the League.

Another sport personality who was recognised in the Independence honours was former national bodybuilder, Irving Streete.

Affectionately known as ‘Big Red’, he was recognised for his contribution to bodybuilding locally and community service.