It seemed the wall of armour surrounding the executive committee members of the Cayman Islands Football Association (CIFA) was impenetrable.

However, the first crack appeared last Monday (Aug 31) when I heard Paul Macey, CIFA’s General Secretary, had resigned.

This was confirmed the same evening when a statement from Macey was read out on CITN/Cayman27’s news:

“In light of the recent events involving CIFA I have decided to resign as a member of the Executive Committee with immediate effect.
“I have dedicated a lot of my time and effort to the development of football in the Cayman Islands and the recent developments at CIFA have caused me to question whether I can continue to do so.
“Having thought long and hard about the matter I have decided that I cannot continue to show the same level of support and dedication and therefore it is better if I step aside.
“I wish the best for football in the Cayman Islands.”

Macey oversaw this year’s CIFA Executive Committee elections and was the man who had accepted the nominations of Renard Moxam and Sharon Roulstone last month, challenging two positions on the executive ahead of the deadline – one being his job.

He was overruled by the President Bruce Blake who went to what appeared to most observers great lengths to have the nominations declared invalid by a technicality that took him days to find. Or delayed so as any ways to overcome the technicality was now out of time.

With a corruption probe now being executed after the auditor, Philip Rankin, had reported concerns understood to be the result of unsubstantiated and suspicious transactions, announced before the Saturday (Aug 30) elections, it is amazing anyone with a degree of sense would have allowed their name to go to the election.

As Alice in her Wonderland mused, “Curiouser and curiouser.”

As the positions are unpaid and the large majority of the public including the government wanting a new broom to sweep clean why did the club membership not protest?

That they actually raised their hands defiantly with their noses thumbed up to the rest of us and approved the nominations does not speak well of football in this country.

They all had a golden opportunity to show some backbone and tell Bruce Blake they cared more for the game of football in the Cayman Islands than his personal ambitions.

Even the government pulling their funds did not phase Blake. It didn’t matter and he would look to the private sector.

One of the reasons private companies give is not just from the goodness of their hearts but the publicity that goes with it. Where on earth does Blake think he is going to find companies who want to be publicly associated with CIFA under its present administration?

The whole membership of CIFA committed suicide at that meeting and I can only hope and pray the actual playing members who show how much they love the game voice their disapproval with great gusto.

That is the only hope for football in this country.

At last we have a crack – let’s hope an arrow can get through and hit the right spot it is aimed at.