 We start this Tuesday edition on the Sports Mag Zone by continuing our discussion about the Guyana Cricut Board calling for the resignation of Cricut West Indies Vice President Azim Bazarath. The GCB wrote to CWI President Dr. Kishore Shallow on the 4th of October. In that letter, the Guyana Board indicated they withdrew their vice presidential nomination of Bazarath and called the Cricut West Indies election process flawed and illegal. Of course, the CWI elections held March earlier this year. They also issued a 14-day ultimatum for Bazarath's resignation. That ultimatum expires Wednesday, that's tomorrow, the 17th of October. Item 92 of the memorandum and articles of association document of Cricut West Indies under the President and Vice President's section states, No person shall be eligible for election to the office of President or Vice President at any meeting of the members unless, not less than 30 days before the data pointed for the meeting of members at which the election of the President or Vice President is due to be considered. Bazarath shall have been left at the office of the Secretary of the Board of Nomination in writing signed by two full members accompanied by a notice in writing signed by the nominee of his willingness to serve if elected. Quite a modful there, but to break it all down for us and to help us understand from a legal standpoint is former West Indies youth captain, now Attorney-at-Law Zair Ali. It's a pleasure to have you on the Sportsman zone. How are you doing? Well, good evening to you sir, good evening to all the sequelers and West Indies Cricut and to my brothers and sisters at Horsie Corugia. Yeah, absolute pleasure to have you, quite a modful that I just went through in terms of the articles of association of Cricut West Indies. Can you break that down for us and give us your understanding of whether the Guyana Cricut Board is on firm footing with what they are asking of Cricut West Indies and that is for the Vice-President to resign and for elections for that position to be reconvened? Well, first let me put my comments into perspective. I am basing my comments this afternoon on the information and the public domain. And I must also indicate at the outset that the rights and privileges of the parties involved. My comments is not to prejudice any rights that may be available to those parties, including the access to court if it reaches that far. But however this afternoon, I'd just like to look at any context where there is in fact a dispute and a dispute that has been around for some time. So along those lines I'll be looking to traverse this afternoon with your assistance. Can you break down for us your understanding of the situation and whether the GCB is on firm footing with what they are asking of Cricut West Indies which is for the Vice-President as in Bazarath to resign and for new elections for that position to be reconvened? Well when you look at that rule 92 that you just read from the articles of incorporation in memorandum and the bylaws of that particular Cricut West Indies, it's very, very strict in terms of what is required to be done in terms of the nomination of an individual. What we are seeing in that particular provision or what I would like to share or suggest is that one needs to now look at the spirit and intent of that 92 in the context where it's definitely demonstrating the need for notice to be given early for whatever administrative requirements that has to be carried out. So what we are not seeing any rules from my humble review is the rule that governs a withdrawal. So that takes me to the point that when there's a dispute in terms of a dispute in this particular instance the question is what should be the approach or what should be the suggested approach if in fact the articles of incorporation of the bylaws of Cricut West Indies may appear to be silent about that particular issue. So I'm not going to pronounce it conclusively as to whether in fact the guy in the Cricut Board has strengthened their case or whether in fact Cricut West Indies is right to stand by their position. But what I would like to see coming out of this is whether in fact we are using Cricut West Indies processes to really have expeditious and amicable resolution to this matter which has been for some time. And having said that may just share with you that there are particular rules in the Cricut West Indies bylaws that speaks about that the power of the Cricut West Indies to hear and determine a matter to amend and repeal the rules if in fact there's silence in this particular area or to take any lawful action to resolve this matter. So I am taking the line as whether in fact at this stage whether we can sufficiently say without prejudice to any party whether we have exhausted the remedies that are available within the framework of Cricut West Indies. What would you suggest are some of those remedies? Well when you look at Cricut West Indies bylaws what you're seeing clearly is that there's room for and I don't know whether in fact as I'm basing my comments on the public information on the public domain but I do not know whether in fact there was a properly constituted special meeting by the members or the slash the shareholder of West Indies Cricut to properly debate this particular issue and have a general consensus so you have all the other members having an opportunity to comment on this matter. So that's number one and when we speak about that special meeting may I say as well that we also have to be very cautious in terms of the subject which is the vice president issue in terms of that special meeting good sense need to prevail as well to ensure that there's integrity in the discussion so that's number one. Number two there's also a built-in alternate dispute resolution in the articles of incorporation and bylaws which gives us and gives us meaning Cricut West Indies the opportunity to look at arbitration so one will want to be exploring the remedies that are available within the framework so that there's full and frowned disclosure there's transparency and the actions are taken towards good governance in West Indies Cricut. Yeah and Zaheer I was thinking about the fact that you know CWI president he came out and he was one of the voices that said of course the process was done in a legal fair transparent manner we also heard from the BCCI they also said that do you think that those two voices coming to the forefront those people are reputable where CWI Cricut is concerned the whole esteemed positions does their voices hold any weight in this matter? Well definitely when you have the president of the Cricut West Indies speaking and then you have the guy in a cricket bottle so respond and we often you know respect these authorities guy in a cricket board we know a member a stakeholder shareholder West Indies Cricut and by extension we have the chair which is the president so we often respect the positions that are coming and meeting each other but what we require in my respectful view is that it is clear that there's a dispute thus far based on the public information so the question is how do we go forward do we do we um do the parties hold their side in it strictly or should we and that's the point I'm making is that are we really exploring the internal framework or even if using the internal framework to say okay let's appoint an arbitrator or two arbitrators so look at this issue conclusively so that you'll have the stakeholders in West Indies Cricut more receptive to such an approach as opposed to both parties just holding a position and arguing on that basis yeah I get what you're saying but you're saying you know auto court settlement might be easier where the way going forward is concerned because it's not as hostile as if you are to go to court court matters tend to take some time and it can also create a rift within the Cricut West Indies organization is that well I'm happy that you went there and hence why I opened my indicator that my comments does not get to watch prejudice in any rights that may be available to the parties including going to the court if need be but what I'm saying is that is what we are speaking about and we already have the need to look at rebuilding West Indies Cricut so could you imagine that instead of focusing on building West Indies Cricut an actual Cricut and investing in Cricut that now we have now to entertain litigation and hence I'm saying that there must be some level of maturity and the actions taken by Cricut West Indies are not omitting the Ghana Cricut Board must all get to what's the best interest of West Indies Cricut and hence why I'm going back again by identifying in my respectful view I don't feel that we have already used the avenues that are available internally to at least give us the best opportunity to resolve this matter and if that fails well then I can understand that we are thinking litigation but I don't feel that we have exhausted in my respectful view all the avenues to resolve this matter yeah so here just to get a clear understanding whose responsibility is it to lead that process in terms of exhausting all the available resources or guidelines within the organization because let's say you are the Ghana Cricut Board and you're not hearing from Cricut West Indies what you would like then it would make sense that we would end where we are right now which is the Ghana Cricut Board threatening legal action well again an excellent excellent question um we have the option for a special general meeting with three full members requesting that meeting so if we are looking at a particular dispute between the Ghana Cricut Board and um and the issue in relation to the appointment of the vice president the other members the other stakeholders need to recognize where their power or where the authority may like to assist in resolving this matter so if three full members request a special general meeting with an identified agenda and this matter is debated and a decision is taken by Cricut West Indies one can now start up okay that we are now utilizing the highest authority of Cricut West Indies to be able to debate them and and ventilate this matter so that is one angle we can take and I may also say that the president by virtue of his authority can also um request a special general meeting the question is whether in fact he may want to have on board the vice president or um for this purpose move a resolution to be able to debate the matter um conclusively or we may also consider having the vice president be present to to be heard in the proceedings so there are many different um context that we can look at it but within the rules there is the option for a special general meeting to really look at this particular issue and especially if we are the parties are looking at the rules that exist where you have rule 92 but one may argue okay is it silent in terms of withdrawal when can a withdrawal be made and and those sort of issues so that resolution may be geared towards resolving the matter or even looking to take corrective action to amend the rule so that this does not reoccur in the future so we need to be mature and again we must not omit to use and I keep popping at this point the built-in alternate dispute resolution methods within Cricut West Indies it is bigger than an individual it is bigger than a board and we need to see what's in the best interest of West Indies Cricut and to avoid any unnecessary litigation in this process in these proceedings yeah well say here you've been involved in West Indies Cricut for a long time as as a player and you understand the toxic nature of some of these um contentious issues in West Indies Cricut in the past 10 minutes that you've been on or so I've heard you use the word mature at least three times with regard to the stakeholders approaching this thing in a in a mature manner and just to follow up on the answer that you just gave um isn't it that the GCB feels as if they are being ignored here on this issue which is why they have gone a legal route or threatening a legal route because my understanding is that since March they have been asking for this issue to be addressed so the ball does appear to be in the court of the CWI to to exercise these internal um approaches that you just spoke of and um and and and and deal with this matter instead of what appears from on the outside to us to be the GCB being ignored well what what when we look at this particular situation it is quite clear that the Guy in a Cricut board is actually from there is actually invoking the board for discussion but just writing the Cricut board in my view asking for the resignation of the vice president um while you may be right and well inclined to make to to ask for such a um a response let's look at it in a bigger picture where if in fact there's a dispute the question is where the other members the full members of West Indies Cricut Board of the Cricut West Indies what are their views what are their purpose are they really promoting good governance by remaining silent so the rules was was was structured to give other parties who may have the answer to say okay let's move on meeting and debate this issue so it's not one individual or one shareholder or one member that should be now in this debate but it should bring in the shareholders and bring in the directors to use the rules so that we won't only have a correspondence going to the Cricut West Indies demanding a particular response but Cricut West Indies themselves are looking at say okay what can we offer to you should we move into a special general meeting you will have your opportunity to debate it other person will have your perspective and be you the board processes to look at it and if then you still do not agree well then we can you know revert to your other legal recourse but we see a very strong position taken by the Grinner Cricut Board and as I say we cannot be prejudicial to them they have chosen that but we have to respect that but I'm going back to Cricut West Indies that we need to to use the rules of the board and I'm not seeing that and I'm probably asking any ambassadors of West Indies Cricut let us explore and use the rules properly to be able to solve and resolve this dispute yeah on a point of clarity to use the rules you're beseeching for the the rules to be used this is coming from Cricut West Indies the Cricut West Indies has to invoke this well we have as I get I gave two options a while ago the chairman as president can invoke a special general and secondly in the absence of him three members three full members of the Cricut West Indies can ask for a special general meeting so the question is the issue is now table in this matter properly so that they can be properly ventilated and then all stakeholders now can be given a feedback as to what transpired in the meeting and what the board decided as opposed to with hearing you know Cricut West Indies standing by the vice president and probably right um that probably their perspective and Guyana Cricut was asking for the resignation so my question is the Cricut West Indies and the president by extension respectfully they are not the only members of the of the board there are other members for example we have Barbados we have Jamaica we have the Libert island we have even Rhode Island so the question is if we are really serious about moving West Indies Cricut and resolving this dispute then one may ask okay where are these stakeholders in the in the proceedings yeah so here I just want to be clearer before we close out here that essentially what you are saying no issues with the Guyana Cricut board writing to Cricut West Indies but for the first step to speak about the resignation of the vice president and litigation that maybe there were other options or there are other options available to them before they got there and those are the options that they probably should have and could have explored in the letter to Cricut West Indies am I correct in saying that well I do not want to to be prejudicial to the position that they have taken my right in the Cricut board and asking for a response into the resignation but what I'm saying is that having written to the Cricut West Indies as the authority what one may have anticipated is Cricut West Indies looking at the letter and let us have some amicable correspondence as to okay maybe let me offer an alternative but what we are seeing in this particular context so from the public domain I'm not I'm not seeing the opportunity to have further dialogue and meaningful dialogue within the rules of the board so hence why I'm saying that is it if we as we speak if there was a the the the constitution of our special general meeting and it's debated then we have other variables in the part to look at but at this time is just a letter from the Guyana Cricut board asking for a particular response from Cricut West Indies and on the other hand we're hearing okay that they're standing by their position but how we really use the rules to resolve the matter so that's the that's the issue I'm actually tabling this afternoon yeah completely understands here I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens within the next 24 hours the ultimatum by the Guyana Cricut board expiring on Wednesday that's the 17th of October that is tomorrow is there we appreciate your input on the show today and I'm sure that we'll be reaching out to you again to have a few more conversations around West Indies Cricut thank you very much for the opportunity to comment on what I said and as I open my comments was not yet to watch prejudice in any of the rides that may be available but looking at what's in the best interest of West Indies Cricut yeah Zahir Ali there former West Indies youth captain and I tell you something if you've ever seen Zahir Ali Batt for a second you might think you're watching Brian Charles Lara he had a Brian Charles Lara style I'll never forget it I was 11 years old and I saw him playing for Trinidad in Tobago at Sabina Park against Jamaica it was the red stripe ball at the time and yeah didn't he look like the Charles wasn't the Charles but aesthetically he looked like him we take a break but back with more on the sportsmax zone