GFF President Wayne Forde said the institution is doing everything within its power to resolve the impasse between the federation and the four Elite League clubs and that the intention is to have all 10 teams compete in the tournament.
Speaking to media operatives following the launch of the Stag Beer Elite League yesterday, Forde said, “I can assure you that we are doing everything within our power to reach out to our members because in any relationship, they are disagreements. You don’t divorce your wife the first time you have a fallout, so my hope is that we can get our brothers and sisters back on the field, because ultimately we need the players to be able to play”.
Asked what will be the approach in dealing with the disgruntled clubs [Alpha United, Georgetown Football Club (GFC), Pele and Slingerz FC] following their withdrawal, he revealed, “We have not acknowledged the letters as yet because I have instructed the competitions department to keep the registration open until Friday [today] and in my letter to the clubs I have indicated to them my willingness to have one on one meetings to talk about specific concerns they may have in the hope that we can resolve it”.
He indicated, “So far I have not heard from anyone but I am expecting that within a matter of hours I may be invited to have some discussions. The effort is really to have everyone on board so that the players can be part of this. We have put a lot of planning and effort into what we are doing. It’s all for the commercial interest of the league and like I said it’s a team effort, we need to know whatever we can, as a family, to make this work for all of us”.
According to the President, the expansion of the league was part of an initiative to grow the tourney’s brand and not a gamble, affirming, “We were elected to represent 22 members and we simply cannot be in a state of suspension or disorientation because we have a couple of members that disagree with a few changes that we have made. They are not disagreeing with the whole gamut of changes we made, so I can tell you that we have made significant accommodation and compromises in the preparation of the plans, and we are at the point where we have given a lot, and it’s time for the other folks to give. I don’t see it as a gamble, it was never a gamble”.
“It was just part of a strategic plan, we need to get Linden involved in serious football, and we need to increase the competitiveness of at the lower end of the league. Season one was dominated by some clubs and unless we do something to create some level of competition, in the clubs that are not at that level we are not going to represent the commercial interest of the product as much as we need to,” he added.
Questioned if the registration date was pushed back as a means of accommodating the discontented clubs, Forde declared “Everything we have been doing, our tone, our private meetings, and we have had several of those, our form of engagement has been to have all 10 clubs in the league, I will not stop doing that because the last thing you want to do in a crisis is stop talking to each other”
Forde posited, “I continue to talk to these people as much as I can, some will entertain me, some will not but I have to make every effort. I am the leader of the Guyana Football Fraternity, and part of my job is to be humble and to reach out to my members when they are aggrieved, and at this point I understand them to be aggrieved, and I have done as much as I can, but I am still prepared to sit with them and work through the problems so we can have all 10 clubs [in the league] on the 20th of November”.
Quizzed if they will be any sanctions if the four clubs maintain their current stance, Forde said, “This is not the time to have those discussions. The focus and the energy needs to be on having all 10 clubs participating in the Stag Elite League”.
