Liberia's
Olympic Dream Threatened
By Julu M. Johnson, Jr.
Mr. Clemenceau B. Urey
( 4/06/2004 Monrovia) -With reports that the
Chairman of the National Transitional Government of Liberia (NTGL)
Gyude Bryant has set up a five-man committee, comprising Boeling
Doekieh, Amelia Ward, Rev. Walter, Evelyn Kandakai and Oilver Ducncan,
that is charged with the responsibility of investigating the removal
of Clemenceau Urey from the LNOC presidency, Liberia may not
participate in the 2004 Olympics.
It all started when a vote of no confidence was
passed against the then president of the Liberia National Olympic
Committee (LNOC), Clemenceau B. Urey. The LNOC executive committee,
probably the highest decision-making body of the organization,
provided a time frame for Mr. Urey to step aside, and when he failed
to do, he was impeached and expelled like it happened in the past to
the late Marcel Bertin and John Sua Karnga.
After Mr. Urey's expulsion, the LNOC Congress later
endorsed a new president in Mrs. Deborah J. Williams who was sworn in
as leader on December 27, 2003 by the Minister of Youth and Sports,
Counselor Wheatonia Dixon-Barnes.
From what has been gathered, the charter of the
International Olympic Committee (IOC) provides that an aggrieved party
should exhaust all local remedies before taking any issue abroad. To
the contrary, there are reports that Mr. Urey has sued the LNOC
leadership at the IOC Court of Arbitration, an act which is believed
to be a contravention of the IOC charter.
Knowing that he has blundered all the way along and lost
everything as far as the LNOC is concerned, Mr. Urey's intention now
is to involve the government. All knowing that he stands no chance of
going back to the LNOC as his successor, Deborah Williams has already
been embraced at home and abroad, Mr. Urey is allegedly on a mission
to deny Liberia a chance of participating in the 2004 Olympic Games in
Athens, Greece.
His alleged decision to take his case to the IOC
Court of Arbitration and at the same time draw the attention of the
government which led to the appointment of a five-man committee has
been labeled as a contravention of the IOC charter which forbids one
from discussing or involving into a case that is before the Court of
Arbitration.
In law, this is said to be termed as "sub-judice." If reports
are true that government is creeping into the running of the LNOC,
then Liberia risks being expelled for the pending Olympics. The world
watched and saw how Guinea lost the chance of participating in the
World Cup for the first time as a result of government interference.
"Urey, being cognizant of all this, is trying to
draw the government into what he knows is unlawful," said an athlete,
who is eager to be at the Olympics this year.
With the Olympic Games fast approaching, the general
view in sporting circle is for Chairman Bryant to dissolve the
committee in order not to see his country being banned from the
world's biggest sporting festival. "Chairman Bryant should seek the
interest of the country and not an individual who is believed to be
his personal friend," a sports lover said.
Meanwhile, according to information, Chairman Bryant
has already informed the LNOC leadership about the setting up of a
five-man investigation team, but when our reporter reached its
headquarters, executives of the Olympic Committee refused to speak on
the matter on grounds that there existed a suit against them at the
Court of Arbitration.
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