Notwithstanding the prevailing Covid-19 pandemic, General Secretary of the East Coast Demerara Football Association (ECDFA), Gidell Austin, has confirmed that all clubs under the umbrella of the entity are scheduled to stage their electoral congress by September.
This was disclosed during an exclusive interview with Stabroek Sport yesterday.
“All clubs are due to stage their elections so that we can host our own. Our election was due to be hosted last year but because of the pandemic we couldn’t. When the executive meet we will decide on a date for the election and inform all the clubs that they should stage their elections.”
The clubs expected to conduct elections are: Plaisance, Beterverwagting, Buxton Stars, Melanie, Paradise, Dynamic FC, Golden Stars, Victoria Scorpions, and Mahaica Determinators. Elite clubs, Ann’s Grove, Buxton United and Victoria Kings, are exempt from that process because they are direct members of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF).
“The Elite Clubs which are Buxton United, Victoria Kings and Ann’s Grove don’t have to host elections because they are controlled upstairs, they are under the GFF,” he added.
According to Austin, the association will administer the respective elections with further information expected to be divulged to the clubs following the staging of an ECDFA executive meeting. “The association will supervise all the elections process and further decisions on the process will be known soon as the body will host an executive meeting.”
He added that club elections should conclude by the month of September as it will afford the association the ability to stage their electoral congress which was initially constitutionally mandated in 2019.
Austin explained, “The elections for the clubs have to be done before this year-end as we are supposed to host ours which will probably be in October. The clubs will have to complete theirs by August or early September so that we can host ours in October or latest November.”
The entity is yet to confirm a date for its constitutionally mandated electoral forum which was scheduled to be held in 2020.
Presently, the ECDFA comprises President, Alfred King; 1st Vice President, Gregory Wickham; 2nd Vice-President, Jillian Frank; 3rd Vice President, Mark Pertab; Treasurer, Kessa Nedd; as well as Committee Members Raymond Daw, Kevin Tixey, and Delon Adams.
The GFF president Wayne Forde during a previous interview with another publication in December 2020, disclosed that elections for its membership were suspended for the remainder of the year.
According to Forde, “I can only say that no member will be staging an AGM in 2020 and would go further to say that once the health situation improves in 2021 – all due AGMs will take place under the strict control and supervision of the GFF.” He added, “As it relates to AGMs across the fraternity, many members became due in 2020, but could not organize their meetings because of the pandemic.”
