Lue, Lothian in name-change disagreement
Published:Sunday | August 2, 2020 | 12:00 AMLivingston Scott - Sunday Gleaner Writer
Jamaica Table Tennis Association (JTTA) presidential challenger, Andrew Lue, has accused President Godfrey Lothian of attempting an unconstitutional name change of the association, a charge that Lothian has denied, as their dispute continues.
In September 2019, Lothian defeated Karen Sinclair-Lym for the JTTA presidency, but Sinclair-Lym contested the result in court, which led to Lothian’s victory being ruled null and void. The court also ruled that a Special General Meeting, where affiliates voted for a change to the name of the association to Table Tennis Jamaica, was also null and void.
Lothian reportedly registered JATTA Sports Limited with the Companies Office of Jamaica in June, and contends that this was done to help with business-related activities for the association and does not represent a name change. He argues that the acronym JATTA still represents Jamaica Table Tennis Association.
NO CHANGE
“There is no name change, no name is being proposed,” said Lothian. “It’s the same thing, we will still be using the Jamaica Table Tennis Association and JATTA is the same thing.”
Lothian is listed as the Sports Centre Manager, while vice-president Darrington Ferguson is named as the Communications Manager, with Francena Pryce, Errol Howlett and Demoye Whiteley being listed as directors.
Lue, however, believes Lothian is heading down the same path, and that this shows that he hasn’t learned his lesson.
“That is one of the things the court ruled against. So with the new name they are going down the same route as the one that was disqualified. It has not been constitutionally established that the name should be used. It wasn’t even put to the membership, and something like that has to be voted on at an AGM. It cannot be the decision of a managing council. So Mr Lothian hasn’t learned from the first experience that that is not the way to operate, and he is setting himself up for another lawsuit,” Lue stated.
The newly registered name will have to be ratified at the next Special General Meeting, which is expected this month.
“That new company he (Lothian) has created has nothing to do with the JTTA as far as I am concerned. He can continue to keep that as his private company. We will move forward with the Jamaica Table Tennis Association,” said Lue.