GCB IN CRISIS

Mar 30, 2010 Sports

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Mediator should step in

By Sean Devers

With the opening match in the T20 World Cup in Guyana just over a month away it is imperative that the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB), known for its excellent hosting of tournaments, work as a united force at a time when Guyana’s cricket is at an all-time low.
Investigations have revealed that there are several problems among the membership of the GCB which have divided the board into two factions.
Comments from senior GCB officials have publicly exposed the fact that the two Vice-Presidents (Fizul Bacchus and Bissoondyal Singh) are at loggerheads regarding which one of them should be the ‘true’ Acting President in the absence of Chetram Singh who is overseas due to ill health.
Insiders say some executives feel Bissoondyal Singh, the East Coast Cricket Board Head, should be performing the Presidential duties while three executives left the last GCB executive Committee meeting on March 12 after disagreements regarding the issue of the acting President.
According to a senior Board member, the use of two constitutions has to be addressed. The first one, which was given to executives in February last year and another which has been described as ‘a work in process’ seem to be the root of the problem between the two Vice-Presidents.
It is felt by some that the first one is the official constitution since the other one is not yet completed. They say it was never put to the general membership for their consideration and vote.
However, GCB Secretary and West Demerara Cricket Association President Anand Sanasie believes the second Constitution is the correct one and claimed it has been used by some of the very people complaining. Urgent attention must be paid to this issue.
Treasurer of the Board Asif Ahmad’s (president of the Essequibo Cricket Board) presence in Jamaica for last week’s WICB meeting is being challenged by Bissoondyal Singh, who is one of two of Guyana’s alternates at WICB meetings in the absence of Directors Chetram Singh or Sanasie.
Some of the executives claim that they were not aware who was representing Guyana at the Jamaica meeting and that there was no discussion with the GCB membership on what should be discussed by the Guyanese at the meeting.
Sanasie, Bacchus and Ahmad left the last meeting and it appears that with the tenure of Chetram Singh, who has been GCB President since 1991, coming to an end, some members have aligned themselves with Bissoondyal Singh.
It is hoped that if a compromise or resolution cannot be reached, a mediator urgently steps in to stabilize the Board ahead of the T20 World Cup.
All the GCB executives, with the exception of Chetram Singh and Marketing Manager Ramsay Ali, were present at the March 12 meeting and it is believed that Minister of Sports Dr. Frank Anthony and Director of Sports Neil Kumar are aware of some of the problems affecting the board.
Minster Anthony played a role in the initial stages of Guyana’s bid to host the T20 matches and it is understood that members of the Guyana Government supported Chetram Singh for re-election during the last GCB elections mainly because of Guyana’s hosting of next months’ mega T20 World event.
It is now crucial that the Sports Minister and Director of Sports officially meet the GCB executives to end the internal wrangling.
Agreeing on which is the correct constitution should be an urgent necessity for the GCB while allegations of mismanagement must be investigated.
At the last meeting, members asked for an explanation of the apparent negative figure of $6,780,000 for the total income while when contacted in Ahmad’s absence, Assistant Treasurer Pretipaul Jaigobin said that the Treasurer was instructed to provide important information on the GCB fund raising event at the Guyana National Stadium and the LBI Hostel and indoor practice facility project.
He said this has not been done and opined that with the ongoing expenditure, the finances of the GCB may be reaching a critical stage.
It is understood that as of last month the GCB had approximately $12 million in its accounts and that Jaigobin had informed the membership that some figures mentioned in previous financial reports ‘have not been entirely accurate’.
At a time when the board is struggling to find a sponsor for its national competitions, accountability is a very serious matter since it could affect several developmental programs and competitions for our cricketers.
When contacted, Bacchus said that he was unaware until recently that there was more than one constitution; saying that it was Chetram Singh who appointed him to act in his absence.
“While we are fighting among ourselves the cricket is getting worst and more and more people in the GCB seem to be taking sides. If I knew there was going to be all these problems with me as acting President then I would have preferred that the cricket ran smoothly even if someone else was appointed. We now have two factions and all this is doing is making it harder for the GCB’s work to be done in an effective way,” Bacchus said.
The Essequibian said that everyone must understand that despite their differences it is one board and if the fighting and backbiting continues everything will collapse and the cricket will suffer.
Bacchus said that Ahmad was chosen to go to the WICB meeting because he was the number one alternate and Bissoondyal Singh was the number two.
It is alleged that an Essequibo Cricket Board (ECB) executive (name provided) collects ECB cheques from the GCB written in his name and that the financial reports on the Regional one-day, four-day and Women’s competitions are being questioned in addition to the GCB T20 Fund Raiser and the two Zimbabwe matches held in Guyana this year have not been submitted.
It seems as if the GCB has now become an open battle ground with little thought or time for the development of the cricket, the very thing the Board was set up to run in the first place.
As a former cricketer who played with pride whenever I represented my country, the boycott of the farewell dinner last Friday night for the national Under-15 team by GCB members opposed to the Bacchus faction almost brought tears to my eyes.
Hopefully, the eager youngsters, now at the start of their national careers and carrying the hopes of their nation in Trinidad, did not notice that ‘big men’ could not at least pretend to be interested in them by turning up to wish them well. The fact that just 2 GCB executives (Bacchus and Terry Holder) turned up emphasized the state of the Board.
Our cricket is in a dark, deep hole and if those that claim they care about our youth don’t intervene to bring the opposing factions together or to send them all packing, our cricket will die a painful death.
It is time Guyana’s sports Minister, whom I believe is interested in Guyana’s sports and our country’s image, intervenes to halt the GCB from going down its present path of self destruction.

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