GFF and Rupununi Football Association have some answering to do on selections for yearend tournament

Dear Editor,

On 25/09/2018 the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) by way of correspondence from its General Secretary (a.g.) and addressed to the Presidents and Secretaries of its Regional Member Associations (RMAs) invited the top two football Clubs from each RMA to participate in its “Super 16” Yearend Round robin/ knockout Tournament. The GFF in the said correspondence also mandated that each RMA conduct an Intra Association Tournament with the top two Clubs from this tournament being invited for the Super 16 Tournament.

It was expected that upon receipt of the correspondence the Rupununi Football Association (RFA) which is a Regional Member Association of the GFF would have sprung into action with alacrity and organized the Intra Association Tournament as instructed by the GFF. As a matter of fact clubs within the RFA as well as their football mad supporters have been waiting with bated breath on the RFA to set the fixtures for the Intra Association Tournament with the winner and runner up being given a once in a lifetime opportunity to rub shoulders with Guyana’s elite Clubs in the yearend tournament.

Lo and behold, information trickling out informally from the RFA has revealed that the Guyana Football Federation has “handpicked” the Guyana Rush Saints F.C. from Central Rupununi to be one of the RFA’s representative Clubs at the Yearend Tournament with the other being an All Star team comprised of a combination of players from different Clubs.  The justification for the selection of the Guyana Rush Saints F.C. was because that Club had won the National Heritage Football Tournament held in Georgetown in September. This has immediately raised the ire and suspicion of the more than fifteen other Clubs which are currently affiliated to the RFA and who all want the chance of participating at the yearend tournament. How can a heritage football tournament that is played over one weekend with very lax tournament rules and is not even an official GFF tournament be used as justification for including a Club in an elite GFF sanctioned tournament? And how is it that the GFF can dictate to the Rupununi Football Association which Club should be selected for its yearend tournament when the Federation itself has indicated in writing the format and methodology to be used to select the Clubs? Its either the RFA is not being honest with its affiliated Clubs or it is that the GFF is overstepping its authority and infringing on the RFA’s autonomy and ability to manage its affairs. Even more frustrating of course is the fact that the RFA has not officially informed the Clubs as to the Association’s latest position on the GFF yearend tournament but instead Club Executives have had to make do with bits and pieces of information from some members of the RFA EXCO.

A next sticking point of contention! If for some reason the Association was hard pressed for time or was constrained by financial limitations to run off the Intra Association tournament why did the RFA not recommend that the winners and runners up of this year’s Rupununi Football Association Champions League which concluded in May represent the Association at the GFF yearend tournament? After all the RFA Champions League is the true flagship tournament of the RFA, and involves the participation of all RFA affiliated Clubs unlike the National Heritage Tournament which is open to just a few select Clubs from the Rupununi. Whatever the reason for not holding the Intra Association tournament the RFA should have come clean from the inception and informed the Clubs as to exactly what was going on instead of deliberately withholding information and keeping Clubs in the dark.

To further compound this farcical state of affairs, the “highly touted” Guyana Rush Saints F.C. which has earned “automatic selection” to GFF’s elite year end tournament on the basis of winning the National Heritage Football Tournament returned to Region 9 at the conclusion of that tournament and was soundly thrashed a couple of days later by a record breaking score line of seven goals to two in the Finals of the RFA-sanctioned 2018 Regional Heritage Football Tournament by a team consisting mostly of Under twenty players. Can it be said in all honesty that this highly “privileged” Club is the best in the Rupununi and deserves a spot at GFF’s yearend tournament? I beg to differ! Something stinks to high heaven and the stench of favouritism is overpowering! GFF and the RFA have some answering to do!

As regards the All-Star team which will comprise the second team to represent the RFA at the yearend tournament, no information has been released to the Clubs by the RFA as to how the selection will be done, who will do the selection, period of encampment etc. Why the secrecy? It seems that the RFA is favouring a few select Clubs and is throwing scraps to the rest. It must also be highlighted that each affiliated RFA Club pays a yearly membership fee of twenty thousand Guyana dollars to the Rupununi Football Association and as such expects to benefit equally from the resources and opportunities provided by the Guyana Football Federation. The GFF’s Yearend Tournament is one such opportunity but the RFA has moved the goal posts significantly to benefit a few. If indeed it is true that these high-handed moves by the RFA have the backing and support of the GFF, then this would be tantamount to gross hypocrisy by the GFF EXCO who came to power on the promise of cleaning up the sport in Guyana which for years was mired in the doldrums and where cronyism and nepotism were the norms.

As a football enthusiast and one who understands the intricacies and complexities of Rupununi football, I would recommend that the following be done forthwith as it is not too late. The Rupununi Football Association in the best interest of all its members Clubs should send two Association teams to the GFF Yearend Tournament, with these two teams being comprised of the best players drawn from Clubs across Region 9 in a selection process that is fair, transparent and all inclusive. By doing that, firstly the Association teams will effectively be stronger and more competitive than if the GFF/RFA was to “handpick” an individual Club as is the case at the moment and secondly the Clubs will feel less aggrieved now that more of them are getting a proverbial bite of the cherry. In addition most if not all of the Clubs will benefit at the local level from the experience of having some of their members play at a higher level. The bigger picture here of course is growing Rupununi football holistically, equitably and collectively and not just allowing a few to benefit while others are kept in the dark and in a state of ignorance. But in order for this to be done the RFA has to shed its current veil of secrecy, open its eyes to reality and treat each of its member Clubs with the respect it deserves. A club from Aishalton Village or from Karasabai has equal rights as a club from Lethem! Money and connections (political and otherwise) should not be the criteria used to decide which Clubs are selected by the RFA to benefit from the resources and largesse of the GFF!

Finally, the RFA has to ensure that its member clubs are consulted on the issues that matter, asked for their input where necessary and most importantly should not be deliberately excluded from developmental programmes that can have a positive impact, as seems to be the case at the moment with the GFF Yearend Tournament. The RFA is nothing without its member Clubs and our football administrators in the Rupununi and further afield have to recognize and appreciate this fact.

 I sincerely hope that a response from the relevant authorities on the issues raised in this letter is forthcoming at the earliest.

Yours faithfully,

S. Fredericks