On Monday, 7News told you about the troubling news circulating about Leroy Sherrier's abrupt departure as the coach of the Belize National Team.
It came as a surprise to the football community because after all, he just led the National Team to its first qualification for the Gold Cup, the best performance in Belize's history.
And the team was very vocal about their support for the coach, believing that a change would cause instability.
The executives from the Football Federation of Belize were also aware of that issue, and while trying to mend fences with the coach, they found that electronic mischief had caused a major miscommunication.
A bogus letter was sent to the FFB, which falsely claimed that Coach Sherrier owed 50,000 US dollars to the courts in the US. And then Sherrier had also agreed to have his performance reviewed. So, when he saw that FFB President Vicente arrived back in Costa Rica, and found that this letter had been sent to them, he thought the Vicente came to fire him.
So, he decided to resign first, and that's when the situation got out of control. It's a series of misunderstandings and Vicente told the media at a press conference today the miscommunication has been cleared up. He also asserted that the coach is returning to Belize to continue working for the progress of the sport.
Here's how he explained it:
Ruperto Vicente - President, FFB
"I have made my investigation. I called the Costa Rican Federation, to whom the letter was addressed, and there is no record of that. All the telephone numbers which are on that letter are non-functional, so it means that the letter is bogus. It is not real, and so, I spoke with the coach. I emailed him yesterday, and the Coach answered back. He said, 'Mr. Vicente, I'll be prepared to return to Belize, but here are my conditions.' And his conditions are not farfetched, and they are not out of the ordinary. He has declared that we do our best to ensure that the coaches for our top league are well trained. That is one. So, he will take on the task of training those coaches once back in Belize. The coach also said that each of the Semi-Pro teams should have a U-17, and a U-20 team attached to it, and certainly that is our plan. That is the reason that we're going to restructure the league. That is the plan that we already have. Thirdly, he said that he will be prepared to work with our national team for a salary of between $3,000 - $4,000 US per month, including lodging and meals. So, we're looking that kind of money to pay our coach. Now, looking at the results of our national team at the Copa Centroamericana, that gives the coach the negotiating power."
Sherrier is expected to arrive in Belize on February 11.
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