Antigua and Barbuda Olympic Association President given senior Government role

By Duncan Mackay

Paul "Chet" Greene, President of the Antigua and Barbuda Olympic Association (ABNOC), has been appointed a Cabinet Minister with responsibility for Trade, Industry, Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Sports, Culture, National Festivals and Youth Empowerment.

It follows the recent election of Gaston Browne as the country's new Prime Minister.

Greene, who is also chairman of the Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party, returned to Parliament following his election for the St. Paul's Constituency on the twin-island nation that lies between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.

"We join in congratulating our esteemed President who has since been confirmed as a Cabinet Minister with responsibility for Trade, Industry, Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Sports, Culture, National Festivals and Youth Empowerment," said Cliff Williams, secretary general of the ABNOC.

"Given his penchant for work and his love for his country and people, we remain confident that he will deliver in his new office.

"As we share him with the rest of the nation, we know that his love for sports and belief in the Olympic values will serve him well in the discharge of his additional duties."

But Greene's early spell in his new role has not been without controversy.

He has been forced to apologise to Trinidad and Tobago's Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar after publicly saying he was confident that the Independent Liberal Party, led by disgraced former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner, would form the country's next Government.

"In retrospect I recognise that the remarks were inappropriate and I withdraw them unreservedly," Greene said in a letter read out in the Trinidad and Tobago Parliament in Port of Spain.

"The remarks were entirely my own reflective of an earlier personal relationship and do not reflect the position of the Party or my Government."

Greene is a former President of the Antigua and Barbuda Football Association through which he had a relationship with former CONCACAF President Warner, who resigned from all his football-related positions in June 2011 following widespread allegations of corruption.

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