The battle for the presidency of the Barbados Football Association (BFA) is officially a two-man race.
When last week’s March 7 deadline for nominations expired, current BFA president Randy Harris and former national goalkeeper Omari Eastmond were the only persons to throw their hats in the ring for the top post at the upcoming April 7 general elections.
However, with three vice-presidents set to be elected for the first time in the BFA’s history, a record nine persons will be vying to fill those spots.
The list of nominees was released today by the BFA’s general secretary Amanda James.
In a brief interview with Barbados TODAY, Harris, who has served as president since 2012 and will be seeking his fourth successive term, said the clubs would have the final say.
“The clubs will decide who they want as president in the next three weeks,” he said.
Meanwhile, his challenger, 38-year-old Eastmond told Barbados TODAY he would be ramping up his campaigning in the next three weeks.
“I’m just trying to build my campaign day-by-day, moment-by-moment. I’m not where I want to be as yet but hopefully come April 7 it will be at full capacity,” he said.
“I’ve been canvassing very hard. Some persons have already assured me of their support, while others have indicated that they are unsure at the moment so it’s up to me to persuade them why an alternate delegate is better for football at this time.”
Eastmond, however, did not name a running mate for the post of vice-president, saying, “I have to see the official listing of candidates because I’m not sure who is there.”
The BFA recently changed its Constitution to bring its statutes in line with FIFA and CONCACAF.
It means that for the first time in its 114- year history, the BFA will have three vicepresidents instead of one, while the board member positions have been reduced from seven to five.
The current BFA vice-president, Captain Al Walcott, who has also served in the position since 2012, will be seeking re-election.
He will have stiff competition, with Jabez‘Jack’ Bovell, Ashton Chapman, Fabian Wharton, Tricia Browne, Adrian Mapp, Christian Renwick, Lisa Bannister and Rasheed Belgrave as his challengers.
Bovell, a veteran football administrator, served as vice-president under the Ronald Jones administration, while Wharton also served in different capacities under Jones.
Browne has been a BFA board member for the past four years; Mapp has served as the school’s representative on the Executive Board; Renwrick is a former treasurer and Bannister currently serves on the CFU Women’s Committee and as a CONCACAF match commissioner.
Belgrave, the president of Wotton Football Club, unsuccessfully ran for vicepresident in the last election in 2020.
Meanwhile, 14 candidates will vie for the five spots on the Executive Committee.
They are Bovell, Browne, Belgrave, Gregory Thompson, Tricia Forde, Wren Ramsay, O’Brien Smith, Tahir Batson, Harley Moseley, Caleb Morgan, Derrick Cummins, Augustin Jacob, Shamika Estwick and Simeon Allsopp.
