From: harinet haile (harineth@yahoo.com)
Date: Wed Jun 24 2009 - 12:19:37 EDT
Mike,
I'm not a fan of how the federation is run and you do bring some valid points. Having said that, I couldn’t help but observe that your issues were more of personal nature with the president not the board per se.
I would like the pick on a couple of your points. First, you spoke of your strong belief that divisive issues should be avoided. Are you implying the board is hell bent on regionalism or religious basis? Please enlighten us…I have had the privilege to participate in the tournament since 1989 and I have never seen decisions made based on the parameters that you have mentioned. Second, your point regarding women is well taken. However, has there been an instance that a woman run for a post and did not get elected? I don’t think there was…so why even bring that as an issue when there is/was none.
I'm inclined to believe that your termination may be the result of different political agendas between you and the president. This may have to do with the participation of the embassy. You mentioned that the Eritrean embassy must be invited every year. Why is the participation of the embassy in the federation affairs of such utter importance? Doesn’t the honorable ambassador have a bigger fish to fry rather than dealing with the minutia of the federation. Let me point it out to you that the tournament saw its best years when there was no government involvement…I, for one, would NOT like to see this federation (tournament), where I have I had the privilege to participate and cultivate life time friendships, get hijacked by government agents and be destroyed for good. Government involvement in any aspect of private venture is a recipe for disaster whether it is in Eritrea or the U.S.A for that matter. This tournament will always be ERITREAN whether the
embassy is invited or not…To insinuate as something else is simple lunacy! After all, sports and politics don’t mix.