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By Neto Baptiste
Former national and Empire FC midfielder, Lennie Quashie, following a rocky bid to contest the Antigua and Barbuda Football Association (ABFA) elections back in 2017, could return as a candidate for the 2026 vote.
Quashie, who had a successful playing career with the dominant Empire Football Club during the late 90s and early 2000s, recently told Observer media that he has been approached to join at least one slate for the pending elections and that he is currently weighing his options.
“Well no; it seems like it’s back on the shelf because I was approached two weeks ago when somebody came to me trying to recruit me for a slate so it’s under consideration. Let’s put it that way,” he said.
In May of 2017, Quashie and one other candidate, Devon Joseph, were barred from contesting the elections by the FA’s Ad Hoc Electoral Committee. Quashie had been nominated for a vice president post while Joseph had ben nominated as a regular member.
Reports were that Quashie had failed to submit a police record as part of the documents requested by the committee, while Joseph’s nomination was ruled null and void after the nominating club withdrew its endorsement of the candidate.
A former law enforcement officer, Quashie enjoyed a fruitful career with the Grays Farm team, winning at least four top-flight championships. He also served as President of the club for a short period.
“You have to be at your best down there because everybody is competing to be the best and even when we were dominating with the Epilus [Veron Edwards Jr], the Boast [Conrad Whyte], the Gantone [Andy Nesbitt] and so on, there were guys who were just knocking on the door. The excitement too, was to see the Swango and those guys around the team and encouraging and, at the same time, telling you that you’re not good or telling you that you could have done something different. It could be very intimidating at times but I was well accepted within the Grays-Green community and up to this day, it’s my home,” he said.
Proposed changes to the FA’s constitution could mean that instead of voting for each position starting from president to floor members, clubs will only vote for a new president. Once voted in, all other members on the elected president’s slate will automatically take office.
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