Date disputes and coronavirus confusion causes Capital Football election drama

Capital Football postponed their annual general meeting from April 6 to April 15, in line with Football Federation Australia's initial suspension on all grassroots football activity.

Two director positions will be voted upon at the meeting, with deputy chairman Angelo Konstantinou and Garth Morrison reaching the end of their three year term.

Capital Football received six nominations but only three were deemed valid by the board, including re-election submissions from Konstantinou and Morrison. The third accepted nomination came from Andrew MacFarlane.

The three other candidates are contesting the decision the board has made in concern of the validity of their nomination, as Capital Football had not issued a notice of motion at the time of their submission.

The rejected nominations were received by the board on Monday, March 16.

Capital Football called for nominees to submit their paperwork by the closing of business on Friday, March 13, with the intent on releasing the notice of AGM on March 16.

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Although the submissions were sent after the requested date, the legal interpretation of a closing date is 21 days before the scheduled AGM. The Constitution of Capital Football, whose general meetings are held in accordance to the Corporations Act 2001, reads:

"A nomination must be in writing and signed by the proposer and seconder and delivered to Capital Football no later than 21 days before the scheduled annual general meeting in which an election of directors will be held in accordance with this constitution."

As Capital Football had not released an official notice for the initial AGM on April 6, the rejected candidates argue any nominations sent through 21 days before the rescheduled date of April 15 are still valid.

The first Notice of Motion was issued on March 24, scheduling the meeting for April 15.

Capital Football chair Fran Sankey says the board rejected the nominations because they were received after the requested date of March 13. Should the meeting have remained on April 6, the nominations would have needed to be submitted by midnight on March 15.

"They were deemed to be invalid because they had not been submitted by the deadline," Sankey said.

"Our AGM was intended to take place on April 6 and that was referred to in our letter. Our intention was to issue the Notice of Motion on March 16 but we didn't because we wanted to carefully consider whether the applications that came in on March 16 were valid or not.

"The board determined they weren't valid because they had not been received in time.

"Directors who are standing for re-election have been excluded from these decisions because it would be a conflict of interest to involve them in these discussions."

Capital Football will hold the meeting via an online platform due to social distancing restrictions.

Officials will test the online voting system this week to ensure it works smoothly and securely. It will be run similar to what Football NSW used for their election last month.

Members of Capital Football will also appoint auditors for the next financial year. Chief executive officer Phil Brown will also present a review of their operations and the future outlook.