Butler (Craig) (President Stony Hill Phoenix All Star Football Club on behalf of himself and all the members) v Kingston and St. Andrew Football Association, Ambassador A.B. Stewart Stephenson (President of the Kingston and St. Andrew Football Association on behalf of himself and the members of the Association) and Jerome Spencer (Assistant General Secretary of the Kingston and St. Andrew Football Association on behalf of himself and the members of the Association

• Jurisdiction: Jamaica
• Judge: SYKES J.
• Judgment Date: 01 November 2007
• Judgment citation (vLex): [2007] 11 JJC 0102
• Date: 01 November 2007
• Court: Supreme Court (Jamaica)

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF JUDICATURE OF JAMAICA

BETWEEN

CRAIG BUTLER (President Stony Hill Phoenix All Star Football Club on behalf of himself and all the members)

CLAIMANT

AND

KINGSTON & ST. ANDREW FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION

FIRST DEFENDANT

AND

AMBASSADOR A. B. STEWART STEPHENSON (President of the Kingston and St. Andrew Football Association on behalf of himself and the members of the Association)

SECOND DEFENDANT

AND

JEROME SPENCER (Assistant General Secretary of the Kingston and St. Andrew Football Association on behalf of himself and the members of the Association)

THIRD DEFENDANT

IN CHAMBERS

Sherry-Ann McGregor instructed by Nunes Scholefield DeLeon and Company for the claimant

Jacqueline Cummings instructed by Archer Cummings and Company for the second and third defendants

INJUNCTIONS - Mandatory and Prohibitory

1 INTERIM INJUNCTION, MANDATORY INJUNCTION, UNINCORPORATED ASSOCIATIONS, OUSTER CLAUSE

SYKES J

2 1. Mr. Craig Butler loves football. His commitment to the sport is undoubted. He has invested time, money and effort. He focuses on youth football. To say that he is merely passionate about the game would do him an injustice. He appears to pursue the game with evangelical fervour. He has been involved in football for over thirty years beginning with his days as a player and continuing now as coach, club president, mentor and guide. He is the President of Stony Hill Phoenix All Star Football Club ("Phoenix") and he has brought this notice of application for injunctions and other orders.

3 2. For the purposes of this case, only the application for injunctions is relevant. The injunctions were granted without notice on Friday, October 26, 2007. The injunctions were further considered on Saturday, October 27, 2007. The inter partes hearing began on October 27 and has continued to October 31. The injunctions were dissolved and these are the reasons for discharging them.

4 3. I should point out that the claim form has not yet been issued but I have been assured by Miss McGregor that the primary remedy that will be sought in the claim is a declaration from the court that Phoenix is entitled to play in the various leagues because it is an affiliate of the Kingston and St. Andrew Football Association ("KSAFA"). She is relying heavily on letters written by KSAFA to her client. These letters will be referred to in this judgment.

5 4. Mr. Butler is also a man aggrieved. Aggrieved by what he perceives to be the volte face of KSAFA. He is saying that he was assured not once, not twice, but three times by KSAFA that his club was guaranteed to be the affiliate from the Stony Hill community that would represent the community in the Syd Bartlett league, a competition run by KSAFA.

6 5. The injunctions granted on Friday, October 26, 2007 were in the following terms:

• a. an interim injunction to restrain the defendants by themselves directors/members, servants, agents or otherwise howsoever from commencing the Syd Bartlett Football Competition/League (2007) for a period of twenty eight (28) days from the date of this order.

• b. an interim injunction restraining the defendants by themselves, their servants, agents or otherwise howsoever from in any manner directly or indirectly from taking steps to commence, organising or signalling play for any of the football matches in the said Syd Bartlett Football Competition/League (2007) for a period of twenty eight (28) days from the date of this order.

• c. an interim injunction be granted restraining the defendants by themselves their servants, agents or otherwise howsoever from prohibiting preventing or otherwise barring the Phoenix All Star Football Club (also known as Stony Hill Phoenix Football Club) from participating in the Syd Bartlett Football Competition/League (2007).

7 6. The first two injunctions are prohibitory while the third is mandatory. Let me set out the allegations.

8 The protagonists

9 7. I have already spoken about Mr. Butler. Let me say more about the rest of the litigants. KSAFA is an unincorporated body which organises football in the parishes of Kingston and St. Andrew, hence the acronym KSAFA. It is an affiliate of the Jamaica Football Federation Limited ("JFF"), a company that has overall charge for the development of football in Jamaica. The JFF is recognised, internationally, as the body responsible for organising, promoting and managing the affairs of Jamaican football. JFF is an affiliate of the Federation Internationale de Football Association, more commonly known as FIFA. This affiliation is an important fact because Miss Cummings suggested that the court should decline jurisdiction over this matter because of rule 33 (a) of the JFF's rules. This rule, according to Miss Cummings, was necessary because FIFA demands that its affiliates settle disputes within the FIFA mechanism which excludes the civil courts of countries of the respective affiliates. This point will be developed later, but I should make it clear that I do not accept Miss Cummings' proposition.

10 8. Ambassador Stephenson ("the Ambassador") is the President of KSAFA and Mr. Jerome Spencer is the Assistant General Secretary of the association. Mr. Spencer was named in place of Mr. David Hunt, the General Secretary, who died quite unexpectedly, on the morning of October 26, 2007, the date the application was filed.

11 9. There is also a Mr. Livingston Cain who is reputed to be the President of the Stony Hill Football Club. The other important figure is Mr. Andrew Gallimore, the Member of Parliament for the Stony Hill area.

12 The context

13 10. As far as possible, I shall make every attempt to restrict my summary to the undisputed facts. KSAFA, as stated, organises football in the parishes of Kingston and St. Andrew. There are competitions organised directly by KSAFA and others which are organised with the blessing of KSAFA. The competitions accommodate a number of age groups, ranging from under 13 to adult. The competition that is in view at the moment is the Syd Bartlett competition which is named after the outstanding Jamaican footballer of the 1960s. This is an adult competition. Those who saw him play claim he was the best footballer of his generation.

14 11. The Syd Bartlett competition is organised on a community basis, that is to say, each team in the competition has to represent a community. There are no free standing teams. Each community can only be represented by one team. KSAFA sets out the criteria for recognising teams to play in this competition. The current rules are the 2004/2006 rules and regulations issued by KSAFA. These rules also apply to nine competitions organised directly by KSAFA. Rule 1 of the rules states the criteria that clubs must meet in order to be recognised by KSAFA and thereby become eligible to participate in KSAFA competitions. There are twelve criteria. One of the critical criteria is found at rule 1 (c) which reads: [The club] must be the sole Club (sic) representing the designated ... Syd Bartlett League area. KSAFA is saying, in this case, that there are two clubs vying to represent the Stony Hill community - Phoenix and the Stony Hill Football Club. The stage for conflict was set.

15 12. Mr. Butler is desirous of having his young charges play in the Syd Bartlett league. It is a league that is important for developing footballers even though in the public's eyes it is not as prestigious a competition as, for example, the National Premier League. It is the division three of Kingston and St. Andrew football. The winner of the Syd Bartlett league progresses to the Major League which itself is the stepping stone to the all island National Premier League. Many of the national players are drawn from the National Premier League and it is well known that many of them have progressed through the ranks from Syd Bartlett through to the National Premier League. It is clear therefore that participation in the Syd Bartlett competition is no small matter.

16 13. The current saga began with an innocuous letter, dated January 3, 2007, Mr. Butler wrote to KSAFA informing KSAFA of the difficulties he was having transferring his players from Barbican to Constant Spring. KSAFA responded by letter dated January 12, 2007. Mr. Butler was told, among other things, that his complaint would be dealt with by named persons in KSAFA.

17 14. It appears that at some point Mr. Butler was told that the Stony Hill area was not represented by any football club. By all appearances the club was well received by members of the community including the police and members of the business community. There are letters from a number of persons indicating that they have no difficulty with Phoenix being the club representing the Stony Hill community. I should note that for ten years up to and including 2007 there was no team representing the Stony Hill area.

18 15. On March 2, 2007, two letters were sent to Mr. Butler. One signed on behalf of the General Secretary, the now deceased Mr. David Hunt, and the other signed on behalf of Mr. Spencer, the Assistant General Secretary. The General Secretary's letter opens with the information that at a council meeting of KSAFA held on March 1, 2007, KSAFA approved the participation of Phoenix in the 2006/07 under 13, under 15 and under 17 competitions. Then comes this paragraph: Provided that your Club (sic) successfully completes the three (3) competitions, the Council will approve your application for affiliation to the organisation and entry into the Syd Bartlett Competition (my emphasis). Council, here, refers to the management body of KSAFA. According to the KSAFA rules, the Council is the highest decision making body of KSAFA other than the annual general meeting or emergency general meeting. The Council runs the organisation between the annual general meetings and is...