Northern club Cosmos are irate that they have not been invited to compete in the upcoming Capelli Sport Super Cup Football Invitational scheduled for August 18th to October 13th at the Barbados Football Association’s (BFA) Wildey, St Michael AstroTurf.
The highly anticipated Capelli Cup, the newest addition to the BFA’s football calendar, has a total of 24 teams inclusive of 12 Premier League sides. The other teams for the tournament have been invited based on finishing top of their zones in the BFA’s Divisions 1, 2 and 3. Cosmos won zone two of Division 3 but have not been considered. The other two zonal winners of Division 3, Villa Club and Technique Football Club, have both received invitations.
(From left) Barbados Football Association general secretary and president of Central League Spartans Edwyn Wood speaking with BFA president Randolph Harris. (FP taken by Morissa Lindsay)
Domestic footballers are keen to participate in the tournament as the winning team will receive BDS$50 000, the runners-up $20 000 and the third-placed team $10 000. Additionally, the most valuable player of the tournament will be receiving a brand new car.
Informed sources close to the situation who spoke to Barbados TODAY on condition of anonymity, have expressed astonishment that Division one team Central League Spartans of which BFA general secretary Edwyn Wood is a part of, finished forth in their zone but yet received an invitation to play in the lucrative tournament.
Barbados TODAY has been informed that management of Cosmos met two weeks ago with BFA officials but have yet to receive word from the local governing body as to its final decision.
One official close to the Cosmos club suggested the snub from the BFA was likely connected to their objection to playing on a particular weekend when the BFA changed its original game schedule.
“Since the meeting, it has been two weeks now that we had a meeting with them [BFA] and they were supposed to get back to us but they have not done it as yet. So we have to move forward with the next step. We are the only zone winners not to be invited, all the other zone winners in Barbados got invited to the Capelli Cup except us and the reason they give is very frivolous.
“Division three is played during the week at seven o’clock or seven thirty. Come to the play-offs they wanted us to play a Saturday at five o’clock and we told them ‘no’. We explained that we have a couple of boys playing cricket and by rights football should play at seven o’clock or seven thirty as per usual. So they [BFA] said they could put a game at any given time to suit them. But we explained it doesn’t work so. So that was their grounds [for us not being invited]. And when we checked they had cricket at both grounds they wanted to play the game at.
“It is alleged that they let in the general secretary’s team [Central League Spartans] at our expense. People say that they invited twelve premier league teams, six division one which is first, second and third in each zone, the three-zone winners of division two but his [general secretary] team came fourth in one zone,” the source revealed.
Meanwhile, Barbados TODAY understands that Cosmos are not the only outfit having an issue with the BFA. Former two-time Premier League champions and reigning knockout kings Weymouth Wales have threatened to pull out of the Capelli Cup. A source who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said Wales’ peeve was that championship money owed to the club by the BFA remained outstanding.
Several attempts to reach BFA president Randolph Harris today proved unsuccessful. Contact was however made with both BFA vice-president Captain Al Walcott and general secretary Edwyn Wood but they said they were unable to speak on the matter because it was now in the hands of the president.
Walcott who said he was in a meeting with Harris at the time when Barbados TODAY contacted him said: “I will speak to the president on that but we are here now in a meeting so call him later.”
A few hours later Wood was contacted and he also said: “Speak to Randy because he is handling that issue and he is in the office now, so call him.”
However, when this online paper contacted the BFA office for Harris, we were told he was “somewhere around the office” and was “unable to come to the phone”.
A message was again left for Harris to contact Barbados TODAY but up to production time he had not done so.
morissalindsay@barbadostoday.bb
