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Alpha Utd. President takes umbrage with local football executives
By Michael Benjamin
Merely hours before two football affiliates, Coach Joseph Wilson and President of the Upper Demerara Football Sub Association (UDFSA), Brian Joseph appears before a team of executives from the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) to defend certain statements uttered and/or actions pertaining to their involvement in the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport organized Inter-Block Football tournament, Presidential advisor and head of the Alpha United Football Club, Odinga Lumumba has strongly condemned the decision to sanction the two men and consequently, is urging the GFF executives to seriously consider the boomerang effects of their actions.
Odinga Lumumba
Speaking with Kaieteur Sport by telephone yesterday afternoon, Lumumba remains adamant that the arbitrary stance adopted by the GFF could serve to be counter productive and in the end football would suffer.
Lumumba said that he has been following the issue and is aware of the letter dispatched to the GFF from the Sports Ministry. He said that he supports the decision made by the Sports Ministry to review its dealings with the GFF in regards to their (GFF) use of Government facilities. “It is simply illogical for the GFF to utilize Government’s facilities, enjoy tax breaks and generally wants government to support their programmes, yet penalize those of their affiliates that support government programmes,” Lumumba pointed out.
The Alpha United boss said that the aim and objectives of the Inter-Block football competition is to create an atmosphere of unity among participants as well as spectators. “We are not seeking conflict but on the contrary, the government, through the Ministry of Culture Youth and Sport, wish to cement closer relationships with the communities and by extension, the ruling football body,” Lumumba emphasized. He said that he is optimistic that after the meeting between football executives and sports ministry officials next Wednesday, that good sense would prevail and officials of the ruling football body would feel obliged to extend their blessings to the tournament.
Lumumba remains adamant that a confrontational approach would only compromise and complicate the issue. “If the government retaliates with force, problems would arise,” Lumumba opined. As such, he believes that the GFF should approach the issue from a rational perspective.
Responding to the view that the GFF is an independent body and that the ruling football body, FIFA frowns heavily on any government interference, Lumumba said, “The government is not interested in running football but it is prudent to note that internal matters such as taxes and accountability to the local stakeholders, cannot be mistaken for unwarranted interference,” he said.
Lumumba also believes that the time has arrived for more accountability from GFF officials. “Some of these football officials collect hundreds of thousands of dollars from FIFA yet they do not pay taxes. From a government perspective we can make queries about this. Government cannot abdicate its constitutional responsibility because of some statute within the FIFA constitution,” he exhorted.
Lumumba is also suggesting that other crucial issues should form a part of the agenda in the proposed meeting between the two factions.
“If the GFF seeks the assistance from the government it must come clean with the government pertaining to its workings as well as the salaries of their officials so that a true assessment of their taxes can be made,” said Lumumba. “The government can function without the GFF but can the GFF function without the government?” he rhetorically mused.
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