ASA Debacle

[johnnybluenose]

Want to know why we are a third world country when it comes to footy?
need not look any further than this mess in Alberta.

I found out about all of this in this thread at Cansoc/Voyageurs here
The original article:

Former members' attempt to oust president lands in court

BY DAN BARNES, EDMONTON JOURNALAPRIL 30, 2010 5:56 AM

The Alberta Soccer Association is in the throes of a divisive and costly internal power struggle.

A group of nine former board members of the 140,000-member association sought president Chris Billings's resignation in late February.

The directors allege Billings committed nine offences, including verbally harassing three board members and failing to obtain board approval for more than $2,000 in soccer-related expenses.

When Billings refused to resign, the directors issued him a letter of suspension.

"We asked Mr. Billings for his resignation because it was a vote of non-confidence from the board," said Edmonton's Mario Charpentier, one of nine board members who signed the petition seeking the suspension.

Billings called some of the allegations baseless and others too vague to address. He refused to accept the suspension, saying due process had not been followed. He also declined to attend a hearing April 23 in Red Deer, arguing the three-member investigation committee charged with looking into the matter had been appointed by the board members trying to have him suspended.

"My legal advice was not to recognize the committee and therefore not to attend the meeting," said Billings.

Billings also reached out to members of the association, suggesting a meeting should be held to resolve the ongoing dispute. That special general meeting (SGM) took place April 24 in Red Deer.

While Alberta lawyer and mediator Alan Beattie served as chair, the nine board members who had signed the suspension petition were removed from office by the unanimous votes of representatives from 16 of the organization's 18 districts. Those directors were Charpentier, director of finance Colin Innes, past-president Fred Kern, Robert Hayne, Christine Chater, Kim Letkemen, Chris Jossy, Jeff DuBerger and Bill Malone. They did not attend that meeting, but held one of their own in an adjoining room later in the day.

Malone subsequently resigned and has decided not to push the case further. The other deposed directors are now seeking a court injunction in Calgary, aiming to have the SGM and its resolutions declared invalid, action they believe would return them to their positions on the board.

"The presence of two competing boards is creating confusion among staff and members of the association and is preventing the association from carrying out its duties and responsibilities," Innes stated in an affidavit filed to support the request for an injunction. "Moreover, it is bringing the game of soccer into disrepute."

One area of particular confusion centres on the association's executive director. Four board members removed Salvi Cammarata from that position in late February, two days after they sought Billings's resignation. Cammarata's replacement, Richard Adams, is not currently working out of the ASA office, which was closed on Monday so Billings could inform staff members of the weekend's proceedings.

"This isn't about power for me. The heart of this matter is the governance of the association," said Billings. "The people who have been removed, they need to realize it's over for them. Clearly the members have spoken."

The deposed directors think otherwise. "We believe that meeting was called illegally," said Charpentier.

A May 7 court date has been set to hear the case, but that may be delayed.

"We're asking the court to decide if the meeting was legal or not. Whatever the court decides, we have to accept," said Charpentier. "If the court decides Mr. Billings is right and we're wrong, we'll go home. If the court decides we're right and Mr. Billings is wrong, I hope he will go home."

The latter seems unlikely. Billings said if the court throws out the results of the SGM, the next course of action would be for the association membership to hold another meeting and vote on the resolutions to remove the nine board members again.

"The case for (the legality of the SGM) is so strong," said Billings. "We followed the constitution to the letter of the law. I have ultimate confidence that the courts of Alberta will find the SGM is valid. The worst-case scenario is they order another SGM. I'm not sure how Mr. Charpentier can possibly think he'll have the SGM results thrown out and win at another SGM."

The results of the April 24 meeting left only two board members standing, Billings and Danny Bowie of Sherwood Park. Bowie had not signed the suspension petition. Three directors were then appointed by the membership -- second vice-president Shauna Aab, director Mike Troke and first vice-president Les Hodges -- leaving five board vacancies.

The new board was scheduled to meet Thursday night in Edmonton.

"We're going to address the (legal) situation, but we're not going to let it dominate the agenda," said Billings.

He said they need to concentrate on moving forward. He is hopeful a resolution can be found before the May 7 court date, but said that would only happen if Charpentier and the other deposed board members withdraw their request for an injunction. That, too, seems unlikely.

"This is an impasse," said Charpentier. "Both sides are strong. Both sides believe they are doing the right thing."

Whatever the result, the association will likely feel the effects of the fight for quite some time. Charpentier said the legal bills incurred by both sides and billed to the ASA might already be in the neighbourhood of $60,000 to $100,000.

"More than the money is the bad blood. That is hard to solve," said Charpentier. " Money is an issue. The main issue is how we stop the bad feelings."

Billings said the ASA is "fiscally OK" but is currently dysfunctional. He said the ASA runs on a budget of $3.4 million and has about $900,000 in the bank.

When he ran for president in January 2009, he did so on a platform of change and transparency, with an eye on distancing the board from day-to-day operations and allowing the staff to run the association. He also wanted to reduce the ASA's legal bills, which had grown to $250,000 during 2007 and 2008.

Billings was elected president when he beat Charpentier by the slimmest of margins, 51 to 49 per cent. At the 2010 annual general meeting, Charpentier was named first vice-president. Billings said the two of them are "diametrically opposed" and it would appear working together has been a challenge, though neither man said the current fight is personal.

dbarnes@thejournal.canwest.com

© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal

and the follow ups:
Children's registration fees go up in smoke
Time to play on, lads, play on

What a bunch of sorry excuses for humans. And to top it off the CSA Shows it's true colours...

A bunch of Oxygen thieves if you ask me.

So let's boil this down. The ASA board has been split into two factions and while both claim legitimacy, neither one is allowed to vote on matters of national importance to the game. The president is supported by the ASA membership but cannot attend the CSA gathering and the ousted vice-president is allowed to attend but cannot vote. Ridiculous? You bet

Read more: http://www.edmontonjournal.com/sports/Time+play+lads+play/3005558/story.html#ixzz0npxpQJpD

 

[johnnybluenose]

Update that could see FIFA come down with major sanctions

 

[Bronco]

Yes, but Larrson is


WINNING

 

[Regs]

What I don't understand is someone taking such "glee" at something like that happening - I'm speaking of "CoachRich" who has the same fricken MO across the internet, including here on TTP (when he has posted)