North America, Central America, and Caribbean Athletics Association (NACAC) President Mike Sands and USA’s double Olympic champion Rai Benjamin have called on Caribbean athletics federations to be better administrators in light of recent high-profile controversies regarding Jamaica, and Antigua and Barbuda, who Benjamin once represented.

The Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) has been the target of much criticism this year because of a number of controversies and relationship breakdowns with its athletes.

MVP Track Club Head Coach Stephen Francis criticised the JAAA earlier this year when Jamaica did not qualify for the men’s 4x400m relays at the Olympics, calling for a number of personnel changes.

This was followed by quarter-miler Kimar Farquharson being replaced on the athletics team for Paris because he did not submit required documents to be added to the JAAA’s provisional athletes list. He blamed the JAAA for poor communication on what was required of him.

Hammer thrower Nayoka Clunis was also excluded from the Paris squad because her name was not added to JAAA’s list submitted to world governing body World Athletics. The JAAA said at the time that this was because Hurricane Beryl’s passing meant it had no electricity or Internet access to make the update.

The issues did not stop there as national shot put record holder Danniel Thomas-Dodd and national high jump champion Lamara Distin both also publicly criticised the JAAA, saying their sub-par performances were due to not having their personal coaches accredited in the team camp.

But the matter of questionable administration is not unique to Jamaica.

Benjamin also criticised the Antigua and Barbuda Athletics Association (ABAA) for its handling of that country’s affairs.

Benjamin, the son of Antiguan former West Indies fast bowler Winston Benjamin, won the men’s 400m hurdles in Paris, as well as the men’s 4x400m relay event. He debuted internationally as a 15-year-old representing the nation at the World Youth Championships (now known as the World Athletics U-20 Championships) in Donetsk, Ukraine in 2013, where he made the 400m hurdles semi-finals. He also represented them at the Carifta Games in April 2015, taking silver in the U-20 boys’ 400m. He then represented Antigua and Barbuda once more as a member of its 4x200m team at the World Relay Games a month later.

He says disgruntlement with poor administration caused him to switch to the United States, where he was born and raised.

“When I was younger, I did represent the country and I went to World Youth (now World Athletics U-20 Championships), and I didn’t really have the best experience that I could’ve possibly had, especially being that young and going over there,” Benjamin said during an interview on Antigua Observer’s Good Morning Jojo Sports Show on Friday. “I didn’t feel as though I had the correct support — looking at all the other teams and who they brought. It was just me and [Everton] Cornelius [his national coach at the time], and I didn’t really see him that much.

“But then, you’re a 15-year-old kid in a foreign country and there was no formal meeting or anything like that. So, I was just like, ‘Okay, cool’, and then I remember we did World Relays as well, too. If I didn’t have my teammates, I would’ve been on my own a bit as well. I didn’t like the disorganisation and not knowing where to be. Someone didn’t want to run and it was a whole mess. I was just like, ‘Yo, I can’t keep doing this, to be honest with you.’”

Cornelius is now ABAA’s president and there have been calls for his and ABAA’s executive committee’s immediate resignation. This stems from four Antiguan athletes, who qualified to compete at the World U-20s later this month, not being registered for the trip to Lima, Peru.

Benjamin says he is aware of the controversies regarding both Jamaica, and Antigua and Barbuda but says he is not interested in a regional administrative role to address these issues after retirement.

“It’s just too much politics for a situation that can be so simple,” he said. “You submit some names; the federation pays for whatever it is and that’s really it. I’m not really down for the politics and to be talking to somebody countless times over one thing that could be so simple. I feel like that’s just much of life too. Everyone loves to hear themselves talk.

“At the end of the day, there’s just no action or force. At the end of the day, I do what I can do. I came back a couple years ago and I promised I’d try to help the youth as much as I can. I sent a lot of gear back for schools, but as far as getting into the nitty-gritty, I feel these kids deserve a lot more. All anyone ever really needs is an opportunity but if you’re taking it away from them, that kinda sucks.”

But Sands says these issues can only be solved through a collaborative effort by each territory’s National Olympic Committees (NOCs), their athletics federations (for example, JAAA and ABAA), and also the Caribbean Association of National Olympic Committees.

Sands’ view also comes against the backdrop of long-standing issues between the Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) and the JAAA.

Sands says communication and understanding is vital between both types of bodies.

“One thing is clear what I’m about to say, and it’s not directed specifically at Jamaica — there is an issue,” Sands told the Jamaica Observer. “I know of four or five confederations that had similar issues in Paris. And I had the opportunity to speak with some area presidents of NOCs and federations.

“My recommendation is, first of all, they have to come together. We have to understand what the rules and responsibilities are. Then we have to have the spirit of cooperation with ourselves and our various national organisations. There has to be transparency, there has to be communication. What is interesting is that we are all one family, because in some instances, you will find that there are persons on both sides. You will find that someone that’s a member of a national committee that is also a member of their federation — in many, many instances. Again, I’m not saying Jamaica specifically, I’m saying all the NOCs have to have communication.

Sands says athletes are the ones who suffer most because of these issues.

“And so, we have to accept ourselves as organisations that are tasked with the responsibility of making opportunities for athletes,” he said. “We have to ensure that at the end of the day, no athlete is disenfranchised because of administrative errors or otherwise. It is unfair to the athletes and we have to do something about it. I think we have to have a sit-down because this is something that rears its head every four years.”