Football federation needs to put its house in order
Sports Scope...Our Opinion
Stabroek News
May 9, 2004
President of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Colin Klass has taken issue with an article appearing in this newspaper.
Klass went as far as to label the article, which appeared in last Tuesday's Stabroek News "mischievous and unprofessional." The article headlined "GFF high five to France" said that five executive members of the federation were going to France for the FIFA Congress.
Stabroek Sport quoted a usually reliable source who said the GFF President was heading the team to France that included First Vice-President Winston Callender, Second Vice-President Frankie Wilson, General Secretary George Rutherford and Treasurer Aubrey Henry. The source said it was ridiculous to send a five-man team to France when only one representative would be able to vote.
The source explained that since FIFA would only foot the bill for three officials then the GFF had to be paying for the other two. Efforts by this newspaper to get a comment from Klass, Rutherford and Callender proved futile. In fact, Stabroek Sport contacted Wilson, who referred this newspaper to Rutherford who could not be reached.
The following day, in another section of the media, Klass labelled the Stabroek Sport article erroneous and mischievous. The GFF boss stated that four and not five people were going to the Congress. Klass said he was going as an executive member of Caribbean Football Union (CFU) and a committee member of FIFA, which would cost the GFF nothing.
What Klass failed to say was that Callender was originally a member of that team, but this changed because of a tragedy in his family. Klass also failed to explain whether he would be representing Guyana or the CFU at the congress. But those are petty issues. So many Guyanese delegates attending such a congress would not solve the mounting crises facing Guyana's football. We see the outcry by Klass as just another kneejerk reaction aimed at camouflaging the much more serious issues that haunt football in Guyana.
At present, the Georgetown Football League has an Interim Management Committee (IMC) running its affairs.
The Berbice Football Association also has an IMC.
Football in Georgetown is at a standstill and no one seems to know what is going on in Upper Demerara and Bartica much less Essequibo. But the GFF does not see these as serious issues.
What of the hoodwinking of the Guyanese people with the stadium issue, which incidentally nothing has been heard of for a long time, and which was hurriedly renamed a technical facility. Last year there was talk of a private citizen leasing land for the construction of the "technical facility" but up to now it has remained just talk. It would come as no surprise if Guyana was struck from the FIFA Goal Programme.
It is common knowledge that football in Guyana remains without a structure; there is no proper nursery. However, what is structured is the many trips officials savour during a calendar year.
After years of FIFA grants, the GFF still rents a building to house its office. In 100 years of existence, the administration of football in Guyana has acquired only one major asset: a bus.
This is the same bus that the government gave the GFF a duty-free concession to acquire.
This is the same bus that has been parked for almost a year in the compound of the national gymnasium, while the GFF pays through its nose for transportation to carry national players around. Minibuses have to be hired while a white elephant lies rotting on Mandela Avenue.
Again, FIFA funds have gone down the drain, or so it seems.
The encamping of national players is a sore issue every year. When it is not expired drugs being given to our young ambassadors they are encamped at Buxton where they are robbed and beaten.
The GFF promised to hold an investigation which apparently has never materialized as the findings were never publicised. And as if that were not embarrassing enough, the administrators of football subsequently placed the senior national squad at Sophia, where they were forced to dwell among snakes. No one has investigated this, or how a cheque issued to Fruta Conquerors by the GFF was dishonoured. Nor has anyone raised an eyebrow when the flexing of muscles by the GFF disallowed Western Tigers from playing in the last Kashif and Shanghai football tournament, while that very club was allowed to compete in other GFF-sanctioned competitions.
With this backlog and other issues facing football in Guyana, surely the executives have business to take care of at home?