Klass responds to critics

Sep 18, 2008 Sports

Colin Klass

By Rawle Welch
“We are confined to a process and FIFA’s regulations clearly specify that any misuse of funds could jeopardise the issuance of same in the future,” Guyana Football Federation (GFF) President Colin Klass told Kaieteur Sport recently.

Klass was responding to media reports that questioned the manner in which FIFA’s annual grant of US$250,000 is being spent by the local governing body in relation to helping with the development of the sport here.

According to Klass, because FIFA dictates the areas where the money they release should be spent, there is no space for mingling of those funds.

The GFF Boss said that he simply does not know what else is there to be clarified, referring to the many queries that usually emanate via the media about the GFF’s spending of FIFA’s annual discharge.

“I am really confused, you try to ensure that at every level there is a high degree of transparency, but still you get a lot of negative comments.”

He stated that the critics needed to be more specific in their accusations, citing that all they keep harping about is the $50 million which he referred to as inadequate to really and truly deal with the administrative and other related costs to develop football in such a vast country as ours.

Meanwhile, Klass took the opportunity to address certain pertinent issues relating to the current situation in football on the local scene.

KN- It has been revealed that monies accrued during the second leg of the World Cup campaign against Suriname was not remitted to the GFF by Tagman Services, who were recruited to handle the ticketing and promotional aspects for the match. Could you tell me if that situation has been rectified?

Klass- No, that situation remains the same, but it was addressed by the GFF General Council and a decision was taken to settle the matter amicably. KN- What do you mean by settling amicably?

Klass- Because the Federation is bounded by FIFA’s policy which discourages the use of the courts to resolve certain issues, we feel to go in that direction will further damage the image of football. Everything that we do has to do with the advancement of the sport right now.

Facilities
KN- What is your response to those who blame the Federation for not attempting to procure proper facilities for the sport here?

Klass- There is no where in the world that I know of that the Federations provides facilities. This feature is the responsibility of Governments.

You don’t have to look outside the Caribbean, all the stadiums that were built in the region has been done by the respective governments so why should Guyana be any different. FIFA’s support is just to augment the initial efforts by Governments.

I’ve always said that in the Third World and more directly Guyana, no Federation or Association can single-handedly build a stadium. We need the inclusion of all the various stakeholders and by that I mean the Government and the Private Sector.

Lack of development
KN- The GFF and more directly you have been accused of hindering the development of football, would you say that is an accurate assessment?

Klass- Well, I would have to refute that claim, if there is no real active sports policy in our schools then how could you expect the sport to develop.

There is where it all starts and I can testify that most of the school grounds are not even kept in a proper state.

I will not deny that more could have been done, but sometimes decisions have to be made and I’m prepared to live by them.

Had it not been for the support of Companies such as Demerara Distillers Ltd, Church’s Chicken, Digicel, Banks DIH and Humphrey’s Bakery and Farm Products who clearly understands the importance of their financial support for the game I shudder to think where we might be now?

I must take my hat off to them; we really appreciate what they’ve done for us and the sport at large.
Digicel preparations

KN- What is the current state of our preparedness for the second phase of the Digicel Cup?

Klass- Because the Digicel Cup does not fit into FIFA’s calendar, clubs are not obliged to release players so we are just hoping that good nature prevails and the respective clubs that our overseas-based players are contracted to discharge them in time for us to have a proper camp ahead of our scheduled round of matches.

We are supposed to engage Antigua and Barbuda in a friendly match this Sunday and more than likely we will have to expose some of the younger players, most of who are based home.

“Young players are the objective, they need to be given the necessary exposure so that we can always have a consistent pool to choose from,” Klass pointed out. National Coach Wayne Dover is in charge of the training sessions which commenced on Tuesday.

Klass also indicated that they were hoping to get all the players in a Camp by October 29 and have at least five days of gelling, before arriving in Trinidad and Tobago on November 3.

The GFF recently re-commissioned a number of their committees including the Finance, Technical, Competitions, FUTSAL and Beach Soccer, Appeals and Education as they seek to improve the their level of service to the various affiliates.

Klass singled out the Referees Council for special mention for their performance throughout the past year.
He added that they were hoping to visit and meet with all affiliates executives and Council members to help improve their performances and the development of football generally.

The GFF Head said, they were also going to attempt to foster a better relationship with the various Regional Democratic Councils to get them to understand the importance of keeping the facilities within their constituency in a proper state.

He also revealed that a new set of sponsors were recently approached, but did not divulge the response of those entities.