– Football fanatics of the Upper Level Barber Shop join the plea for GFF president Colin Klass to resign; suggest Mendonca, Cadogan and Archer as possible replacements
By Kiev Chesney
Barber shops have always been known as one of the most informed and reliable sources of information in society as well as a place where one can be advised on their social relationships and debate politics and sports.
However, there was no debating at the Upper Level Barbershop on Tuesday.
There was no disagreement, disparity or objection when Stabroek Sport visited the shop on North Road as everyone agreed with the theme for the day, “Klass must go.”
“Players don’t benefit from football in Guyana, they get nothing and are treated with no respect, while Klass and his entourage have become comfortable after 20 years of benefits, said Hoel Hutson, barber and devout football fan.
“How could you be the president of a football federation for 20 years and not even have a ground or training facility,” said Ron Austin, another barber and football enthusiast at the shop.
“Imagine, hours before your first game in a major regional tournament like Digicel Cup and the team isn’t training together and key players missing,” said Jermaine Grimes, barber, qualified referee and executive member of the Fruta Conquerors Football Club.
Those three barbers were the main speakers who voiced their opinions and received more than just nods of acceptance from customers, who also had their part in the vibrant discussion.
One anonymous customer said, “It is true, Klass has been there way too long and he can’t keep holding the office, what is he doing to help football in Guyana? All that time and not even a ground for the national players?”
The barbers in the shops testified that they have had nearly every national footballer that the country has produced over the past decade in their chairs and, apart from experiencing the injustices as supporters of the game; they have heard testimonies from the players themselves.
Grimes, one of the most vocal speakers in the discussion had this to say: “Klass is carrying bad baggage and it is not helping football in this country. Look at it like this, he took up the office in 1988 and that was two decades ago… what has he accomplished since then. One thing can be noted is that he should not be credited for Guyana’s success in the Digicel Cup,” he said.
He added, “They got that far last year because of the determination of the players and the help from the overseas players, he had no part in that.”
Some of the barbers said the last straw for them was when the national anthem could not be found at the beginning of the 2010 second leg World Cup qualifying match against Suriname, which they said was an embarrassing administrative blunder, and put Suriname further ahead even before the first whistle.
“Klass acts like he owns football in Guyana but what he has to realize is that he was elected to serve the people and see football forward and if he can’t do that after 20 years, why is he still president?” he asked.
Grimes said that one of the biggest flaws of Klass’s administration was that they have absolutely no respect for the players.
“Every time there is a tour, they don’t have enough money for players to eat and players sleeping on the floor and on desks,” he said before adding,” and then when it is time to train they get kicked off of grounds.”
Grimes said that he was reliably informed that the reason that the players seemingly lacked enthusiasm in the qualifying match against Suriname was because they hadn’t received their stipend, which was among the many other injustices they suffered.
Hutson supported his co-worker adding, “Footballer in this country work hard and get nothing in return. It like they are the machines and if they don’t get service they wouldn’t function efficiently,” he said adding “When a cricketer represents us, play for the West Indies, they come home and are well respected, they have houses and live reputable lives. What happen to all of the footballers that have played for Guyana? After a while people forget about them.”
“As a matter of fact, how many footballers do you see in commercials or billboards?” he asked.
The barbers said that after closely following and assessing the sport during Klass’s time at the helm of the GFF, football would be better if Klass were to resign immediately.
They said that there is a need for more developmental programmes in football at the school as well as club level. They also said that a suitable replacement should be business oriented, have innovative ideas to promote the sport and focused more on development.
If Klass were to resign, the barbers said that the vision of his successor should include investing in football academies as well as coaching clinics and structures for administrators to play an integral part in players’ lives.
Some of the suggestions for his successor were President of the Georgetown Football Association Troy Mendonca, Troy Cadogan, and Terrence Archer.
Before he leaves however, the barbers said that they would like for him to give a full account of all the FIFA funding, and other revenue that the GFF has received.
