Rileys weren’t ‘cleared’ to coach, says NACAC
(CNS): The row over how Lacee Barnes-Riley, a gold medal-winning former national athlete turned coach, and her husband, Adrian Riley, were accredited for the recent CARIFTA Games escalated Monday after Cayman Islands Athletic Association (CIAA) President Delroy Murray circulated a letter from North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletic Association (NACAC) implying that Bahamian track star Pauline Davis-Thompson was the one who forced the issue without authorisation.
Barnes-Riley recently posted a video on social media in which she accused the CIAA of being behind an embarrassing incident where they were escorted from the CARIFTA training area and their accreditation was revoked. The controversy has overshadowed the Games, where local athletes won two gold medals and one bronze. The Rileys went to the Bahamas having privately paid for and secured their accreditation to coach Cayman athletes.
The letter from NACAC, signed by General Secretary Keith Joseph, said, “NACAC Athletics remains very clear that the lone authority for the granting of access to accreditation for persons from any country that has registered a representative team to compete at the event, remains the national federation, in this case, the CIAA. That authority was never surrendered at any point that NACAC Athletics was aware of, at any point during the Carifta Games of 2023.”
He said the accreditation official, Kirsti Johnson, had held on to the badges printed for the Rileys as she awaited financial authorisation for their release to a CIAA team leader or manager, but it was Davis-Thompson who came to collect the passes for the Rileys.
“Ms Davis was told that the official was unable to release the badges at this time because she could not confirm whether or not the team had paid their levy,” Joseph wrote in his letter. “Ms Davis proceeded to slam her hand on top of the badges that were on the side of the official’s computer, and said, ‘I will be responsible’, and took the badges and walked out of the accreditation centre. The leadership… did not authorize Ms Davis to engage in the action she undertook.”
Speaking to Cayman Compass sports reporter Seaford Russell, Sports Minister Bernie Bush was critical of the CIAA and said that what happened was “foolishness”, as he pointed to a number of past problems. While he accepted that the situation with the Rileys may have breached NACAC rules, he said it could have been handled much better.
Bush said he was far more concerned about other shortcomings and questions about the CIAA and the poor decisions they were making about which athletes were qualified to attend and which coaches were formally accredited.
See the letter from the NACAC below or in the CNS Library.
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Category: Local News, Sports
Bernie Bush. Classic, pointing and shouting, “look over there, there’s something to take away the focus from my absurd handling of all of this!”
Pathetic. Come clean and apologize, or just resign. Ideally, both!
almost as bad as the time, half of the cayman athletes failed to compete at their events at the london olympics….
How many field athletes qualified that year?
Wayne Panton needs to let us know why Bernie Bush is yet to be relieved of his Ministerial duties.
lol
I still can’t get over the politicians that #stood with Riley before they got all the facts.
What would people think of the CIAA if they let unqualified persons coach their athletes?
Hooray for Delroy Murray
It seems more and more the CIAA put petty flexing and ego over athletics in stopping people coaching who athletes wanted to have there are coaches. Pathetic.
Pathetic is right but not on the CIAAs part. The Riley’s knew their route to get the passes were wrong. Quit making excuses.
They aren’t certified coaches….they don’t have any athletes. The athletes in question have their personal coaches. She cried wolf and instead of waiting to hear the other side some folks rushed and judge the sporting body.
Those are the facts.
Agreed, so pathetic on their part to cause such a stink about them not following due process, and of course Sandra jumps on to stir it all up. Wish she would focus on more positive things, she has a unique platform, but God won’t look kindly on her using it for stirring such hatred.
A five year ban for all involved seems reasonable.
Bernie Bush, Pauline Davis Thompson owe the people of the Cayman Islands some apologies, to go along with those from the Riley’s and Catron that we are still waiting on.
Why is the CI Sports Association being criticized for enforcing the rules???
Why didn’t they accredit her when she first applied? Is she not qualified?
She is not.
Actually, she isnt
Sandra Catron is going to lose her mind on the next show.
Oh no no honey child.
Lol
So about what anyone with sense figured. People tried to get around the fine details of rules, got found out and then made a social stink, the CIAA got stuck on the middle for trying to follow the rules but being unable to explain them coherently because they’re a semi-coherent bunch. And no one really cares because as the Minister said we’ve all got more important issues to worry about. Just not sports much less any of this claptrap. (Happy for the athletes, I hope they had fun.) Though, what we perhaps should care about is people (say Ministers or coaches) sending a message to youth that rules don’t matter, its all about ‘what is important’. And what is important in sports? Winning of course. You see where this leads. (To getting thrown out of your sporting events.) – And so we have found what is important in this story: ethics are what are important. Always, in every avenue of life. Even sports. Ethics are what are important.
Ethics have died and been buried . If leadership lacks it then don’t look elsewhere for it. Make ethics great again!
The tempers are so high because the stakes are so low. I’m glad some of the athletes did well despite the so-called adults and their issues.
At this point no one cares, rules are rules so stop being ghetto.
Told you so, not even sorry to say it.
Sounds like Bernie Bush spoke without having all of the facts.
From the day he was born.
He must now resign as a result.
That’s the Caymanian way.