Guyanese football official Noel Adonis has been suspended for 30 days by FIFA over ethics violations in the run-up to the world governing body’s presidential election earlier this year.
The FIFA decision yesterday comes weeks after its 26-month ban on Guyana Football Federation (GFF) President Colin Klass over the same matter. Klass’s penalty is the stiffest meted out in the scandal that has sullied Caribbean football administration. Both Klass and Adonis attended the Trinidad meeting where the ethics violations occurred.
President of the Georgetown Football Association (GFA) Vernon Burnett, weighing in on the 30-day ban and a 300 Swiss Franc (CHF) fine (approximately US$327.2) by FIFA’s Ethics Committee yesterday declared that neither the GFF General Secretary nor Klass should ever be allowed to administer football in Guyana ever again.
Burnett said that they have embarrassed Guyana especially since they held high offices for football in the country.
Adonis is the second high level football official to be sanctioned for violation of ethics in the FIFA cash-for-vote scandal that was orchestrated by Mohammed bin Hammam at a Caribbean Football Union (CFU) special meeting in Trinidad and Tobago on May 10-11. Prior to the suspensions, neither Klass nor Adonis had spoken locally about what they were accused of doing or not doing.
There were accusations of attempts to bribe CFU officials to vote for Bin Hammam in the June presidential election against Sepp Blatter which is a violation of the FIFA Code of Ethics.
The ethics committee, which met earlier this week in Zurich, arrived at its decision after investigation by the Freeh Group uncovered that several officials described receiving brown envelopes containing
US$40,000 in cash.
Adonis, like Klass has been banned from taking part in any football-related activity, administrative, sports or any other.
He joins former Dominican Prime Minister Patrick John (two years and 3,000 CHF), Vincent Cassell (Montserrat), Raymond Guishard (Anguilla), Tandica Hughes (Montserrat), Everton Gonsalves (Antigua and Barbuda) and Derrick Gordon (Antigua and Barbuda) who received a reprimand and a fine of CHF 300.
Their fines and bans ranged from seven days to two years and were handed down by Claudio Sulser, chairman on the Ethics Committee.
Efforts yesterday to contact Adonis, who had always maintained his innocence, were futile. When Stabroek Sport contacted the GFF’s acting President Franklin Wilson, he said he was busy.
Meanwhile, Deputy General Secretary of the GFF George Rutherford when contacted for a comment asked why this publication did not call him for a comment on the performance of the Golden Jaguars, who qualified for the third round of CONCACAF World Cup Qualifiers after they defeated T&T 2-1 on November 11.
He was told, he added, that this newspaper had spoken to Wilson, the coach Jamaal Shabazz and Sport Minister Dr. Frank Anthony. Rutherford then stated that he “has a difficulty with reporters who only want comments on negative things about the GFF.”
Meanwhile, Burnett indicated that while Adonis and Klass should not be allowed into the football fraternity again, it is sad that Guyana’s image is being smeared especially since the country’s national football teams are doing so well at the moment.
He pointed out that it was FIFA’s right to punish officials for violations, reiterating that it was a gloomy day for Guyana because high level officials were implicated. (Marlon Munroe)
