Some are working to ensure the present GFF administration fails

Dear Editor,

The last elections for officers of the GFF saw six diverse individuals becoming the executives of football in Guyana. All these individuals had football baggage of varying degrees.

The misconception by some, however, was that the elections were over and that the individuality would have removed itself for the development of the game.

However, those who long for power after years of abusing it have continually worked to ensure that the present GFF administration fails.

Their friends first demanded increased stipends from an organization in the red; there were trivial court cases; there was the planting of past and present GFF executives on Association Boards; and the ambushing of the mandate of the executives by wilful abstention.  This is an anti-change position set in train by a group at a meeting led by the leader of the old guard.

The results were a slew of letters purporting management differences to give a sitting GFF VP and a committee member currency to ambush the GFF quorum. The Women’s Association has twice as many executives as there are functioning clubs associated with it.

Guyanese by now should not be indifferent to the influence exerted by stakeholders in one stratum of corporate Guyana to regain a market share in football. Thus, I posit their actions are calculated to engender underdevelopment in football and then to present their candidates as the alternative – just read between the spaces.

This is allowed to unfold because mediocrity is a cousin to disorder, which has a big following in Guyana. To illustrate the point, how many of the hundred odd football clubs in Guyana have a standard constitution and want the situation to remain as it is?  Editor, a zero sum game is being played at the altar of regaining power, and all shall be consumed.

A glaring example came to light in December 2013, when the President of an association was approached by stakeholders in corporate Guyana with a package to sponsor a tournament. He immediately called the executives of a competing interest to solicit a bigger deal. This is the end game and all Guyana should see it for what it is.

When that effort failed in 2013 along with the abstentions in 2014, an old move was set in train to bring a no-confidence motion at the next Congress. What can be so sweet in the GFF that is over $30M in the red and those who graced its halls for the past decade want to return?

Maybe we should await the Audit Report and allow the media to be present for the entire Congress.

During a one-year period April 2012-April 2013 the GFF had to manage US$1.250M or $200,050, 000M.

However, in June 2013 the GFF did not own a minibus; hadn’t added any new B Grade coaches to the approximately seven that exist in the whole of Guyana – there was no A Grade coach; had not upgraded either a new or an old playing field; had not issued training uniforms for the National U19 team; hadn’t a youth programme as it did not register for the CFU U15- 2013; and was over $30M in the red.

The tales that followed continue to erode local football to this day, as the focus was removed from the league format to the sports (knock-out) format. Nevertheless, if one were to examine the resource management of the World Cup qualifiers (minus the Mexico Game fiasco), the true measure of this flag carrier will be revealed.

In 2011 about August, the GFF and its oversees coach inked  an agreement to pay US$3,000 for 16-20 days of  his services and he is to report to the GFF General Secretaries. Please note that during this time the flag carrier was a VP. It is assumed that this was an executive decision. However, when the GFF got its US$1M sponsorship in 2012 it was excursion time for the GFF executives.  The executives  in April 2012 inked  another service  agreement with the same coach but backdated  payments to February 1, 2012 at US$6,500 per month, three return trips home per month plus a vacation (15 days) for three and a US$50 per day when travelling, for one year. The coach now reports to the president, unlike in 2011. In the same light starters and used substitutes were given US$350 per WC game and US$150/100 per friendly game, a team incentive of thousands of US dollars for wins /draws & losses, in certain instances (US$30,000). Imagine the then effectively a Guyana World Cup team was being paid to lose; what manner of leadership is that?

This is what the GFF had in 2012-13. It also agreed to pay the Asst Coach US$1000 and the trainer US$800 for every 14-18 days with the team. This was also  part of the mad rush expend and to find warm-up matches which included the likes of TT U23, Tobago United and Suriname.

These were among the ones quickly found to secure the friendly games against opposition Alpha FC. The mantra then and just after that was Guyana’s FIFA ranking, but one must ask how did that positively affect local football. Did the structure of local football improve at any level? No, so we saw growth but not development.

Editor it is instructive to note that the ad hoc dolling out of scarce resources was accompanied by a missive in April 2012 that alerted the wise that trouble was not far away, and which in part stated that the executives had a concern about matching income with expenditure. The powers however, never exercised prudence, even in the face of non-existent income. To illustrate the latter point, during one of the away qualifiers, discontent in the team because of indecisive management and misinformation led to open revolt and some players abandoning the team. As if this was not a bad to worse situation for the country, the executives retained the same management and recalled the same delinquent players a few weeks later to play in a Caribbean tournament, and the results were the same all over again. Throwing good money after bad! The said players revolted and abandoned Guyana once more.

Can the President of EDFA say what policies he has piloted over the years in the GFF General Council for the development of football, or what has become of the club that brought him into football? Of the ten or more clubs in the EDFA only one at present has a coach that is C Grade or above, so how does he plan to help and if he holds a two-round tournament now, will he have five clubs to compete in it? This is what he should be addressing, because a change in GFF leadership will not help him out of his known deficit.

I want to make the point that we all must stand ready to be judged for our actions in football.

 

Yours faithfully,

Eton Moses