Open war inside the USACA
Bobby Refaie has reacted to the decision at the weekend to suspend him as secretary of the USA Cricket Association with a stinging attack on Gladstone Dainty, the USACA's president, as well as a refusal to accept the action
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In a move Refaie claimed was a thinly-disguised attempt to influence the elections, Dainty announced on Sunday that the executive had suspended Refaie and three candidates in the board's elections.
In an e-mail to Dainty, Refaie made his position quite clear. "I know that you are a desperate man," he wrote, "however I am surprised about your ignorance after receiving your e-mail regarding my suspension. It is quite obvious again that you have not cared to read the constitution because you have no intentions of following it.
"In the end it is pitiful that you have orchestrated this shameless act and you have been a party to such unconstitutional actions. It shows the sorry state of affairs that USACA is currently in, due to your leadership."
Just in case this had been missed by the ICC, Chai Gadde, a USACA vice-president, wrote to Matthew Kennedy, the ICC's global development officer, insisting that Dainty's action was unconstitutional. He stated: "Please be advised that Gladstone's e-mail, or the so called board's decision, is arbitrary and is unconstitutional, as the board's term expired as of January 2005 (as per the USACA constitution) and they cannot pass any resolution, especially when they have a conflict." The mail concluded with a request for the ICC to investigate "illegal actions and mishandling of the electoral process."
But Dainty told Cricinfo that the meeting did have seven directors present and the intention had been to hold it earlier but that had been blocked by some directors who had insisted on the requisite 14-days notice being given. "Decisions made were consistent with the board's desire to conduct fair elections," Dainty explained. "What is most important to us is the rights of individuals. It is the law."
All these events do is tend to confirm that the ICC was right to suspend Project USA and that Malcolm Speed's criticism of the USACA executive hit the nail on the head. Once again, the only losers are likely to be the grassroots players and supporters inside the US.
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