Act Against Violence and Discrimination in Sports

The Cayman Islands Football Association (CIFA) Executive Committee invited members of the public, along with representatives of the RCIPS and government ministers in a united stand against violence and discrimination to attend the “Act Against Violence and Discrimination in Sports” on Sunday, 10 March at the Truman Bodden Sports Complex. The event highlighted the importance of being united against violence and discrimination in sports.

During the meeting, CIFA’s President Alfredo Whittaker, and General Secretary Marcos Tinoco led everyone in a pledge: “The Cayman Football Family is proud of our country and sports in general, we will not allow the violence and any form of discrimination to bring shadows Pto our rich sports’ history. We honor and are grateful for all individuals that are part of our sports’ family and make football a special gift to our lives.

We condemn all forms of violence, racism and discrimination of any kind, and remain committed to a safe, inclusive and positive space for all involved in our beautiful game.”

One of the Roma players, Tinashe, said, “It is a very good initiative, bringing together all the stakeholders to ensure that football is safe, and also emphasize that it is a family sport where everyone can come and enjoy in a safe environment.” 

Police Commissioner Mr. Kurt Walton said: “The shooter for some enraged insane reason thought it was OK to shoot into a crowd of 20-25 persons to hit his target, was beyond comprehension. So many persons were impacted that night: victims, players, spectators, which included parents and children. This dreadful occurrence has resonated throughout our entire community and must never happen again.

“However, we cannot allow the senseless actions of others to ruin for all the other sporting activities in Cayman. We must say no to violence as a country and as a community across various sectors we must stand up against, in particular, gun violence.

As police commissioner, I have given President Whittaker full assurance that he has my support, the support of my staff. Football must resume – there are too many young people who play this beautiful game and who actually need this game to look forward to a positive future.”

“This incident Affected the whole of the Cayman Islands,” said Hon. Sports Minister Isaac Rankine, “Want to assure the president that they have the Government’s support, because, yes, football must continue. The lyrics to the National Song, ‘oh land of soft fresh breezes…” that is the reason why we are here today, to show support against the violence that was perpetrated a few weeks ago, and we cannot allow it to happen again

Minister for Tourism and Ports Hon. Kenneth Bryan said: “Sadly, there are not enough people here this evening which tells me that although every one of you has taken time out of your day to come and stand here and show your support, there should be thousands of people on this field this evening. It sadly also tells me that we have failed. When I say we, I mean all of us – we’ve failed as a community, as a government; we’ve failed as parents, we’ve failed as church leaders.”

He said that now was a time, not to withdraw from supporting young people in their sporting endeavors, but to so more to support them.

“As an elected member, as a person who is in charge of the finances of the country and the policies that we do to affect peoples’ lives, we are going to have to do better to make sure that our children are not vulnerable to this type of thing. But not only governments fix problems, the community fixes problems.” He praised those leaders who had shown commitment by coming to the event. “Take time out this week and ask yourselves what more you can do, because giving up is not an option and love for this amazing sport football, we have too much talent in these islands and we cannot give up on those kids,” he said.