May 8 – The Grenada FA (GFA) has been taken to the country’s High Court with a complaint that the current executive is rigging the presidential election, to be held Saturday, by preventing a rival candidate from standing against incumbent Marlon Glean (pictured) who was elected in 2022.
The complaint details alleged breaches of GFA’s Electoral code, particularly around suddenly reduced time frames for presidential challengers to meet compliance obligations and eligibility checks, that have led to the disqualification of candidates.
The moving of election time frames at the last minute, designed to remove candidates from the vote, is very much an ‘old’ Caribbean FA tactic that under the new Concacaf has been clamped down on. In the Grenada case this has left Glean’s slate as the only qualified candidates and no challenger to Glean for the presidency.
The GFA case may not need Concacaf or FIFA intervention as country’s own government will adjudicate later today (Friday May 8). The GFA electoral congress is due to take place on Saturday (May 9.
The complaint has been brought by Team Duncan, led by Roger Duncan and Trevor McIntosh (former Technical Director of the GFA), and questions the fairness and integrity of a process that they claim has had multiple procedural irregularities.
They say that the convening of an Extraordinary General Congress on short notice —37 days instead of the statutory minimum of 45 — significantly reduced the timeframe for compliance with electoral requirements, including the submission of slates and the securing of five endorsements from eligible clubs.
Team Duncan also says a register of eligible voting members was not circulated to the membership, making it difficult to identify valid endorsing clubs; that endorsement forms required signatures from a limited pool of club presidents as several clubs had expired leadership terms; and that there was no guidance or summary of the applicable statutes and requirements was provided alongside the election notice.
Team Duncan’s slate was ruled invalid by the Electoral Committee for failing to meet endorsement requirements. The claimants say this was due to procedural breaches and lack of transparency in the process.
The claimants have asked for the elections to be postponed and a deadline extension to allow candidates to be submitted and endorsements gathered. They say this also requires disclosure of the list of voting members, and that the GFA’s statutes must be followed.
Concacaf refused to comment officially, though an insider said that all its national association members are expected to follow the governance rules.
In this case they may not need to investigate or act as the Grenada High Court may make the decision for them.
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