By DAHALIA SMITH, NG Sports Reporter, dahalia@nasguard.com

Former' Bahamas Olympic Association (BOA) president of 32 years Sir Arlington Butler and 'newly elected secretary' Dr. Larry Davis attended the most recent meeting of the General Assembly of the Association of National Olympic Committees (GAANOC) held in Beijing, China, and both returned with different accounts of what transpired there.

On Tuesday, April 15, BOA 'vice president' Harcourt Rolle, in an interview with the Guardian, speaking on behalf of Dr. Davis, gave an account of what happened in China.

"According to Dr. Davis no such instruction was given to him or Sir Arlington Butler to release any information to the press on any matter," said Rolle. "Furthermore, to our knowledge, there is no meeting set for Thursday, May, 8. When Dr. Davis went to Beijing he attended GAANOC where he represented the BOA. I do not know what capacity Sir Arlington went in," Rolle explained.

One of the main reasons why Sir Arlington and Dr. Davis attended GAANOC, according to the press release, was for the purpose of resolving the stalemate regarding recent purported BOA elections.

"There is nothing to resolve," continued Rolle. "The International Olympic Committee (IOC- governing body for all Olympic sports) was not involved in any exercise in Beijing. This was a matter that was dealt with by Butler's friend, Vazquez Rana. This is a personal friendship thing that he (Butler) is trying to use. Rana is a member of the IOC."

When asked where Butler might have received this information, Rolle noted: "Sir Arlington is not a member of the BOA. He did not seek re-election. The elections were held and now we have a 'new president'."

After the elections were allegedly completed, on March 6, 2008 at the National Tennis Center, Dr. Davis noted at the time: "I do expect for this new BOA body to be recognized by the IOC. I look forward to reporting to them who the new officers are."

Those who were voted in at the time included Reverend A. Enoch Backford II as president, Sir Durward Knowles, Harcourt Rolle, Roscow Davies, Wellington Miller, Oria Wood-Knowles and Roy Colebrook as the vice presidents, Vincent Wallace-Whitfield as treasurer, Edith Powell as assistant treasurer and Livingston Bostwick as assistant secretary general.

Currently, the new BOA body is still awaiting recognition from the IOC.

"The IOC was not involved in any exercise in Beijing," Rolle said. "Until such time as we hear from the IOC, not through Butler but by direct communication, then we will make the next step. We have submitted the results of the election to the IOC and we have not yet heard from them in that regard."

According to Sir Arlington's account (expressed in a press released sent to the Nassau Guardian on Monday, April 14) while at the GAANOC he was "advised by Mr. Mario Vazquez Rana, president of the Pan American Sports Organization (PASO), President of the Association of National Olympic Committees and International Olympic Committee Executive, that an assembly to elect the new executive for the Bahamas Olympic Association will be held on Thursday, 8th May, 2008 at 6:30 p.m. at the Nassau Yacht Club."

The press statement further noted: "A delegation from the regional PASO will be present. The delegation will consist of Felipe Nunoz, secretary general, PASO; Mr. Richard Peterkin, treasurer, PASO; Lic Ricardo Contreras Hernandez, secretary general Mexico OLYMPIC; and Dr. Julio E. Cassanello, president, Argentina Olympic.

The delegation will be present for the elections. This action is in compliance with the request of the International Olympic Committee.

Butler maintains that on March 6, he could not call the meeting to order because there was no quorum as the only federations present included boxing, baseball, cycling, tennis and basketball. According to Butler, the federations not present were athletics, yachting, swimming, softball, football and volleyball, "thus there was no majority of federations."

*BOA TORN-Butler says 'I am still president of BOA'

By KELSIE JOHNSON, NG Sports Reporter, kelsie@nasguard.com

I have no intention of being a candidate for the presidency of the Bahamas Olympic Association, I have no intention of holding onto office," said long-time BOA President Sir Arlington Butler, yesterday, at a press conference held at his law office.

Butler held the news conference to refute recent claims being brought about by the 'current' executive members of the BOA, that he (Butler) was no longer the president. In fact, Butler revealed that he had made a decision prior to the interruptions of the elections, which were originally scheduled for 2006, that he would 'step aside' from the BOA after his 70th birthday. Butler celebrated his birthday in January and his 43rd wedding anniversary yesterday. The first elections were not successful and the ongoing saga for presidency and executive positions, along with who is eligible to cast a vote in the elections continues.

He said: "It is unfortunate that we have had this long delay and several court battles. I am the one who was being sued initially by the federations, then I was sued by the executives. I am the one being sued by both sides, shot at by all sides. So, in my humble opinion, I have survived to this day and until such date we have the next elections, as president of the Bahamas Olympic Association you will see that I have received a letter from Mr. Mario Vazquez Rana."

Butler presented all parties present with a copy of Mr. Rana's letter, (letter is pictured on page 3 of sports) using it as verification for his claims that he is still the president of the BOA, despite the results of the elections which were held on March 6th at the National Tennis Centre.

According to Butler, the BOA office should have received a copy of the letter. He also noted that he and Dr. Larry Davis attended a meeting held in Beijing to bring some quick resolutions to the problems the association face.

"We have been struggling to hold an election of officers of the Olympic Association of The Bahamas since November 2006," confirmed Butler. "It has been unfortunate that we had not been able to adhere to the rules of the IOC (International Olympic Committee) in our several attempts.

"I recently went to Beijing and while in Beijing I was able to meet with the president of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC), who happens to be the person the president of the IOC has given the responsibility to resolve the problem in The Bahamas.

"In that meeting, besides the persons who I have named who are coming here for the elections, there was also Dr. Davis. We all came to an agreement that we would have a new election for the officers of the Bahamas Olympic Association. I do not know if Dr. Davis was a mute on that day, I do not know if he didn't hear, but I know that he was physically present and what I have seen and heard from him since is as though it didn't happen and that saddens me."

Butler is hoping to host the elections, which will be overseen by IOC executives, in May. He also plans to fully execute the new constitution of the IOC, which states that the federations must be given the majority of votes and the majority of executives elected.