One cannot help but feel sorry for newly elected president of the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) Aubrey Hutson who, it seems, has found himself between a rock and a hard place. Hutson earlier this week gave Stabroek Sports a hard-hitting interview in which he indicated that the AAG that he inherited after he defeated Colin Boyce at last month’s annual general meeting was cash-strapped and in debt.
He also pointed out that the AAG’s financial report for the year 2012 was unaudited and that the AAG stood to face some sort of sanction from the IAAF for not attending an international meet last year.
So far so good. At last! One thought, here was someone willing to shine a light into the darkened corridors of the AAG’s finances and hopefully, the revelations could lead to a more financially secure AAG in the near future.
But lo and behold, Hutson gave another interview in another section of the press where he refuted his own story.
No wonder athletics is in the state it is in.
Good presidents seem hard to come by these days.
After giving a detailed insight into the financial situation of the AAG including giving this newspaper a figure of $454,000 which Hutson said was owed to the Guyana Olympic Association he, (Hutson) apparently had a change of heart and decided that his word was not his bond.
Talk about vacillating.
One can only wonder if a person who gives one media outlet privileged information about an association and then turns around and says in effect that he never said so is the right type of person to lead the AAG at this time.
Hutson it seems, has mastered the art of speaking from both sides of his mouth and the electorate, the clubs that voted him into office by six votes to three, must now be beginning to wonder if the AAG is better off by having Hutson replace Boyce.
In the interview Hutson was specifically asked certain questions including one about the finances of the association.
With respect to the financial report of the AAG, Stabroek Sports quoted Hutson as saying:”The financial report that was submitted is riddled with inaccuracies so we had to throw that out.”
He also told this newspaper that he had to go into his pocket because the AAG was operating as if it had no money.
“Right now we are operating as though we have no money from the AAG because the state that the AAG is in financially is terrible,” Hutson told Stabroek Sports.
He added: “I already had to spend G$50,000 trying to establish a coaching structure because the IAAF has been deducting some of the money that they would send to the AAG for all those years since they did not have a coaching structure.”
He also went on to say that the financial reports have not been audited for some time a view substantiated by none other than newly-elected GOA General Secretary Hector Edwards who told Stabroek Sports that he was unsure if he was still the association’s auditor as he had not been approached to perform that task in more than two years.
Hutson also revealed the following in the interview that (a) the AAG is expected to face sanctions from the IAAF for failing to compete in the South American Youth Championships last October (b) that the President’s/Jefford Track meet was a personal competition for the organizers, Colin Boyce and Edison Jefford (c) that the organizers had changed the name for this year’s event and (d) that the AAG owes travel agents for unpaid airline tickets.
Having given all that information to this newspaper for Hutson to claim in another section of the press that he was “disappointed” over the comments he made and that he does not know the financial situation of the AAG because nothing has officially been handed over makes Hutson look sheepish.
One hopes that whatever he is hoping to achieve by giving conflicting interviews is worth it. For many, I suppose it is confusing.
No sports reporter forces an individual to give an interview you either want to give it or you refuse. It is your right.
And if you are misquoted and the writer (heaven forbid) includes things that you do not say then you have a right to notify the writer and seek a retraction from the media outlet. You should only go to another media outlet if the media outlet in question refuses to do the retraction.
Hutson has a right to be disappointed. But he should be disappointed with himself.
What is sure is that most athletes are probably disappointed with Hutson for failing to stand up for the accountability and transparency he said he would bring to the AAG after he was elected.
As they say so much for that!
