THREE executive officers of the South Arrows Archery Club (SAAC) have been suspended from the TT Archery Federation for three years for breach of fiduciary duty for registering a parallel entity.

The suspensions, which also included the club, took effect on December 23, 2022, and were upheld on appeal on Thursday in a written decision of the majority of the executive committee of the TT Archery Federation.

Disciplinary proceedings against the club and its three executives, Sherwin Francis, Roddie Taylor and Louisa Jones began after a complaint was lodged by the federation's president Hasmath Ali in November, last year.

Ali said he was told of the establishment of the TT Field Archery Association which he verified and saw was aligned with the SAAC in registration documents with the company’s registry.

In his complaint, he said it was worrying since the federation was not told of the establishment of the new association which was prejudicial and in breach of the TTAF constitution, especially since one of the directors sat as a member and club representative on the national archery body.

The disciplinary committee of the federation ruled on Ali’s complaint on December 18, 2022, suspending the SAAC. It said the federation should have been told of the intention to form the new body as it will “ultimately be competing with the TTAF for the resources of archers and the funding available to the sport in Trinidad and Tobago.”

It did acknowledge there were no rules in the constitution against forming another organisation, however, because of the way its management committee was constructed, the new body would be privy to the federation’s plans and strategies.

“This constitutes a clear conflict of interest…”

The executive committee ruled to suspend the club and the three directors from the federation while agreeing not to punish the SAAC members, allowing them to shoot in TTAF-sanctioned events for six months. The executive committee also said it did not feel a fine would be appropriate, the decision on the appeal said.

The executive committee was advised by attorneys Dr Emir Crowne and Amy Rajkumar of New City Chambers at the appeal process.

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