Letter to the Editor: A view of Klass and the football situation

Nov 15, 2008 Sports

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Guyanese, particularly the football fraternity is again calling for the President of the Guyana Football Federation Mr. Colin Klass to take the Red Card and leave the football arena because he is immune to failures and there are serious charges and squawks of lies and more lies.

Colin Klass refuted the media articles that he was accosted in the wee hours of the morning as he was trying to escape from our dear National Footballers’ searching questions and pleas for their remuneration which is long overdue to them. They surely must have had enough of his vindictive, repressive administration of the GFF.

How can a President of a National Sports Association after being roughed – up and totally embarrassed, in a reputable hotel in Port of Spain, Trinidad, deny the facts and say he only learned of the issues in the newspapers?

This is another case of lies and more lies. He should honestly resign for lying so blatantly and denying that he was confronted and humiliated by the National Footballers.

Such behaviour is comparable to a dictator who intends to cling to power even if it means selling his soul to the devil.

2008 is a leap year. Colin Klass was assuring the Football Fraternity in this country and the Diaspora that under his stewardship Guyana will qualify for the World Cup and win their way into the Digicel Caribbean Championship Finals. Neither unfortunately happened.

Klass a master of the art of deception was able to get the World Cup qualifying game against Suriname to be played at the Guyana National Stadium at Providence.

Guyanese turned up in their thousands. The over filled stadium saw our people rallied behind the Golden Jaguars.

Approximately ten million dollars were collected and to date the public and the footballers are calling for a simple report and accountability on what really happened to the money.

Imagine, there was that massive turn- out and the GFF are yet to pay the stadium the 50% parking fees.
What a shame that they are refusing to show how many vehicles utilized the parking lot and pay over 50% of the revenue accrued from the parking fee as agreed.

More shameful, the Football Administration still owes the poor hardworking, dedicated stadium staff their overtime money.

How disgusting. The heads of the GFF can be seen drinking whisky and champagne and the poor men and women who were cleaning and keeping the stadium in tact are denied their pittance for their children to survive.

Klass said that the missing millions made from the Guyana vs Suriname World Cup Game had been settled amicably with the hired promoters. Well some of the promoters are also very close to Klass.

Further, executive members of the Guyana Football Federation who are traveling first class on trips overseas, were also hired as promoters.

It is true that the trip to Australia was a luxury travel. Colin Klass, the Secretary of the Guyana Football Federation and one of the promoters traveled in luxury to and from Australia in first class seats.

How can this be justified when football in Guyana, as in many other countries, is embraced by the poorer classes of society?

Such wanton spending on luxury trips should never take precedence over providing for the poor young boys in Guyana who see football as a way to achieve social mobility.

Money Matters
The Guyana Football Federation is presently receiving Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand United States Dollars (US$250,000) annually to assist in the administration of football in Guyana.

It is mandatory that 20% or Fifty Thousand United States Dollars (US$50,000) must be spent on the development of Women’s Football in the country; however, there is no proof of the spending in the development of Women’s Football.

It is most unacceptable to learn that our own National Coach Wayne “Wiggy” Dover was receiving a mere $30,000 Guyana Dollars per month while the administration and the big boys are sporting millions in “Cadillac” Lifestyle.

It is not easy to accept that the Guyana Football Federation bought a bus for millions of dollars and the footballers never benefited from it. However, the bus was sold to some friend of the executives of the Guyana Football Federation for next to nothing.

Imagine our National Footballers were forced to beg for food and money like street urchins during their encampment in Trinidad and Tobago earlier this year because Klass, for the umpteenth time failed to deliver on his promise.

Our National Footballers were shamefully encamped in a snake infested place and it was more shameful to learn that while on another encampment our National Squad were given expired drugs.

Summing it all up is easy. Our football is dying a slow and painful death brought on by a dreaded disease named Klass.

It has infected the sport for two decades and if left untreated can go on for another two decades. There is only one treatment, and the national players in Trinidad stumbled onto this antidote and are offering it to all who have been affected or infected by the disease.

If we are to see a turn around in football then we must see the back of Klass. We must support our national footballers’ call for new, fresh and eminent leaders in the football administration.
Concerned football and sports enthusiast

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