Embattled president of the Kingston and St Andrew Football Association (KSAFA) Wayne Shaw says his sudden resignation from the top post has nothing to do with any insinuation or claims of mis-spending against the organisation or its ability to honour its financial obligation to clubs.

“Personal reasons [that’s why I am leaving]. But running an organisation like this is very hard [as] the lack of sponsorship is the hardest thing right now in football,” Shaw told the Jamaica Observer.

“The clubs are up in arms over the [non-]payment of the prize monies, but that has nothing to do with [me leaving],” he pointed out

“We are still in negotiation to get the money to pay them and it’s because of a shortfall in receiving sponsorship for the just-concluded competitions, [that has created this situation],” Shaw added.

On Tuesday night, Shaw gave up the presidency during a fiery special general meeting with affiliates held at the BNS Sports Club in Liguanea, where some affiliates demanded explanation to the fiduciary practices of the organisation and the spending of $5 million in particular.

According to Observer sources, the meeting got off to a heated debate as members of 11 clubs who were suspended by KSAFA turned up and things threatened to blew up.

A stand-off is said to have ensued between the president and some members as to their right to attend the meeting. The suspended members were asked to exit the building, and with things on the verge to boil over, the militant group was instead asked to sit at the back as non-participating observers.

During the tense session, a representative of Mona FC queried the status of the club’s unpaid prize money for winning the Super League, which has been rebranded the Champion League.

The winning prize of $1 million is due to Mona FC, with the $800,000 owed to Major League champion Maverley/Hughenden, monies among a long list of unsettled obligations to the association’s membership.

However, one of Shaw’s staunchest critics, Chris James, a director of Barbican FC, rubbished any suggestion that $5 million was unaccounted for, but instead pointed that the confederation overspent and perhaps ran a loose budget.

“There is no missing $5 million, what I know is that they overrun the budget with some expenses that occurred like [the hiring of] Stadium East [to host games],” James told the Observer.

“They just did not get enough sponsors to cover everything. It was explained that there was an overrun of the budget which can mean poor management. It’s not about missing money,” he reiterated.

“I am one of the biggest critics, but I could never say such a thing,” said James.

Shaw, who served as general secretary at KSAFA before becoming president in 2017, says he is not ruling out a return to serving football at other levels down the road.

“Maybe in the future, but not now. I will still be involved in football [as] I am still a part of Santos and will continue to be involved in football,” he said.

Shaw believes he has left KSAFA in good stead with the introduction of the Guardian Life Under-10 competition, one of the highlights of his tenure and maintaining KSAFA’s dominance in the Premier League currently with six teams.

“I think the association has been well run over the years by myself and the executive. There are able people out there to replace me and the association will continue to flourish,” was Shaw’s parting shot.