The GABF and its mendicancy

Apr 12, 2009 Sports

– how a budget backfired

By Edison Jefford
In the organism of anything there are, as a rule, mountains and valleys but when that life gets permanently stuck in the valley with no visible means of emancipation, transgression has to be logically responsible for that organism.
The Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation (GABF) sprang to new life this year with the announcement that it has bided to possibly host the prestigious Caribbean Basketball Confederation (CBC) Championships in August.

Many pundits, enthusiasts and even the media both locally and internationally, lauded the unadulterated effort of the federation and more so that the attempt came on the heels of a surprisingly weak penultimate year in 2008.
The bid was well received at CBC but more had to be done. The Confederation requested a ‘Letter of Commitment’ from the GABF, which a member of their Government with an alternative Olympic Committee member, must sign.
President of the GABF, Godwin McPherson met with the Director of Sport, Neil Kumar, who requested a budget for the hosting of the event. The budget was done and submitted but that only became the genesis of another issue.

Patrons held their fingers crossed as articles such as ‘Mac if Back’ appeared in newspaper headlines in anticipation of a favourable outcome or compromise between the GABF and the Government of this Co–operative Republic.
At this point, the organism of the federation was on the mountain. Work had been done to garner regional “interest” and more work was done to produce the budget. The federation was on a high as Guyana moved closer to history.
The inaugural CBC competition was held in Guyana in 1981 and it took seven years to return in 1988 with both the male and female versions. Guyana again hosted the senior competition in 1994 and the junior contest in 1999.

At the request of a ‘Letter of Commitment’ and speedy production of a budget, it seemed as though ‘The Land of Many Waters’ was headed for a historic fourth hosting of both versions of the senior Caribbean Championships.
However, financial misunderstanding and mendicancy were, in essence, the reasons that can be attributed to the Government’s refusal to support the GABF and its budget that was given a stipulated deadline for submission.
The Confederation had posted its ‘Hosting Requirements’ for all prospective bidders and the document clearly outlined the various costs that the host will incur, which was quite weighty but nothing to the tune of the budgeted amount.

In other words, there were aspects of the GABF budget that infused Kumar, who sent the document from his office to the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Dr. Frank Anthony after which it died a natural death at the ministry.
A source close to the Director of Sport told Kaieteur Sport that Kumar’s controversy was that the budget was not basic enough for Government to support and that the GABF was coming to the table broke and begging–in mendicancy.
According to the well placed informant, the GABF wanted the ministry to support airfare, among other costs, for overseas–based Guyanese players and so on. The source said that Kumar was not willing to support that expenditure.

The budget was made out for over $20M and it included a variety of clauses, including an inbuilt basketball court at the National Park. The problem with the ministry was that the GABF had no money in its coffers to supplement its grant.
From all indications, the ministry was not prepared to entirely fund the event and even at that stage of the negotiations, the GABF, based on the known outcome that Guyana lost the bid, was not prepared to give Government full onus.

There was no compromise. The GABF was in its right to not give Government the burden of managing the championships since CBC would not have recognised the administration but rather, constitutionally, its affiliate–the GABF.
The fact that the GABF submitted a budget that suggested full support from Government without showing the ambition to contribute at least $5M of the amount through various fund raisers and other initiatives, speaks of gross mendicancy.

Empty coffers open the floodgates for an administration to decide the fate of associations as did Government with the federation in relation to CBC. It is a lesson learnt and one that should propel associations to be more proactive.
The GABF budget backfired based on major financial transgression and after its peak on top a mountain of acclaim, the federation is now stuck in the valley searching for another saviour but who or what will it be this time?

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