‘I will not be attending any meetings’ - Defiant Lothian rejects proposed mediation as TT controversy continues

Godfrey Lothian, president of the Jamaica Table Tennis Association (JTTA), said he has no intention of attending a proposed mediation meeting, being organised by a group led by JTTA presidential candidate, Karen Sinclair-Lym, which call themselves ‘Friends of Table Tennis’.

Sinclair-Lym was defeated by Lothian in the run-off for office in February. However, despite Lothian remaining in charge, those results, along with the constitution and the organisation’s new name, Table Tennis Jamaica (TTJ), were ruled null and void after the matter was taken to court in September.

The group, which has been pushing for a change in leadership, with claims of mismanagement and a lack of transparency under Lothian’s watch, has stated that it does not recognise Lothian’s presidency, even though he was reinstated pending a special general meeting (SGM) and fresh elections.

However, Lothian, who stated that he was yet to receive an official invitation to a meeting up to Friday, told The Sunday Gleaner that there are plans to have the SGM before the end of the year, and that if he is to attend a meeting of this nature, it would have to be organised by a third party.

“It’s likely that I will not be attending. What am I attending for? What are they mediating about. But if you are going to have mediation none of the two parties can set date, time, venue or agenda. You have to have a third party to set those things and they are the ones to call a meeting,” said Lothian.

SETTLED IN COURT

“They carried us to court and the court ruled, so what are you now going to mediate about. Those concerns were answered in the court, there was a court ruling, so why should we meet again? If you take something to the court and the court ruled, we don’t need to call a meeting again. The annual general meeting (AGM), election of officers, board, everything was ruled null and void, so they got what they wanted, so why are we to meet again,” he reiterated.

“We need to just get a special general meeting and have elections and the person that wins becomes president. But for now I am the president,” Lothian stated.

Lothian shared that the organisation’s management council met on Wednesday and will be deciding on a date for the SGM at their next sitting, which he expects will take place shortly.

“We will have it (SGM) before the end of the year,” Lothian said.

Meanwhile, ‘Friends of Table Tennis’ also announced that they have invited a member of the International Table Tennis Federation and members of the Electoral Commission of Jamaica (ECJ) to the meeting.

While Lothian would welcome the members of the ECJ, he said an ITTF member attending a meeting being organised by an unrecognised body would raise serious question and warned that he would have to take it up with the world’s governing body.