There are two acting presidents at the helm of football in Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago namely Franklyn Wilson and Lennox Watson as the two regional football bodies plunge deeper into crisis.
What do these two football administrators have in common? A few months ago neither one would not have envisaged being at the helm of football in their respective countries.
In fact, Wilson was on his way out of football administration when he was put in charge in Guyana because of two reasons.
The first being that the Congress that was called to elect three members to the executive of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) of which Wilson vice president’s post was up for grabs was aborted by the intervention of the local courts following an injunction filed by the Georgetown Football Association to halt the meeting at the Ocean View international Hotel.
The second reason was the suspension by FIFA, the world body governing football of long-serving President of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Colin Klass who is currently serving a 26-month suspension from all forms of the game.
Wilson, being the senior vice president at the time was propelled into the seat of power.
Watson, on the other hand served as vice president of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (T&TFF) until late last month when the incumbent president Oliver Camps resigned following a FIFA inquiry over the infamous cash-for-votes scandal at the specially arranged Congress involving top regional football officials of the CFU and former FIFA Vice President Mohammed Bin Hammam.
The bribery scandal that forced Qatar’s Bin Hammam to withdraw from the FIFA presidency race led to a spate of resignations, suspensions, fines and reprimands of a number of officials, including Klass, General Secretary of the GFF Noel Adonis, Camps and compatriot Jack Warner.
Warner, the most senior of the officials embroiled in the controversy quit as FIFA vice president and Caribbean Football Union (CFU) president in the wake of the controversy that created a domino effect upon regional football.
Wilson has been riding on the success of the Golden Jaguars performances in the World Cup qualification competition following Guyana’s impressive showing in earning a spot in the third round of the CONCACAF series.
Watson and the T&TFF beleaguered by the poor showing of the Soca Warriors in their World Cup campaign following their second round exit has started to flex his muscles following a public outcry in the twin island republic for the sacking of German head coach Otto Pfister whose contract comes to an end next month. The man at the centre of all this is Jamal Shabbazz who until two weeks ago was the head coach of the Golden Jaguars but is at present back in Port-of-Spain.
Shabbazz, who was on loan from Trinidad and was very vocal when Pfister was hired ahead of other coaches in the Caribbean region, has stated that Guyana’s 2-1 win over the Soca Warriors that put the nail of the Trinidadians coffin was a victory for Caribbean coaches.
Shabbazz has never earned the respect of the football administrators in twin-island republic and his performance against his compatriots could now pose problems for Guyana’s future World Cup campaign as the Golden Jaguars enter the critical third round against the region’s top teams.
Are the Trinidadians being spiteful or is there an earnest plan to have Shabbazz lead their future senior team’s development?
Sources disclosed that the cash-strapped GFF is in no position to hire a top flight coach and Shabbazz being here served its purpose because of his close relationship with the Kashif and Shanghai organization.
Whether Wilson and Watson, the two caretaker presidents have the authority to negotiate on behalf of their respective federations to bring about a resolution to this situation is another issue.
The GFF is unable to hold its Congress due to the court matter while the T&TFF Congress is due in a few months time according to Watson.
While the Golden Jaguars have started on a promising road to Brazil 2014, their trip to the World Cup finals may become rocky should the current coach issue remain unresolved.
