Yassin exposes Kumar

Aug 21, 2012 Sports

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By Edison Jefford and Rawle Welch
President of the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA), K. A. Juman Yassin yesterday described comments emanating from Director of Sport, Neil Kumar’s assessment of Guyana’s performance at the London Games as “insensitive”, “scandalous” and “offensive”.
Responding directly to Kumar’s column in another section of the print media that was entitled “A Red Letter Day”, Yassin categorically pointed out what he called “several inaccuracies” in the missive and sought to debunk Kumar’s assertions. He also pointed to articles written by these two writers, but said “there was not much there to complain about”.
He first attacked the third paragraph of Kumar’s column which

suggested that Guyana’s sojourn can be described as “miserable” and “embarrassing”. Yassin called such an assessment “most insensitive” and “cruel” to the seven athletes, who represented Guyana.
“It is my view that a lot of the comments were unjustified and did not take into consideration all the factors. I find comments coming from the Director of Sport, someone who wants to nurture young athletes, most insensitive, and I think it’s cruel to those athletes, who went on Guyana’s behalf,” Yassin said.
The GOA head, who has held the position since 1996, said that he complimented Government on their thrust to build facilities at a reception in London for the Guyanese contingent. However, he made it clear that all the facilities to ensure international success are still not in place, suggesting that should be the focus of Government.
“I really do not think that all the facilities that are required are in place but they are trying, they have the (50m) pool, with pool it will take 5-8 years before we can see development. They need other infrastructure, coaches, and coaches who are of a very high level,” Yassin believes.
“I would be grateful for him (Kumar) to say what was the support that has been forthcoming for associations and athletes; I know when Aliann Pompey won a Commonwealth medal there was supposed to have been some support, but unfortunately there was none and none up to now,” the head of one of the single most influential sport entities in Guyana continued.
Yassin said that if the claims of support were accurate then Guyana would have gotten more Olympic medals by now. He used boxing as an example. He said that boxing represents a clear chance of Guyana earning Olympic medals, but the sport needs better infrastructure.
“Boxing is one of the sports that have won an Olympic medal, one of the sports that should win more Olympic medals, but until, and when there is more support, boxing cannot go anywhere. What is needed in a nutshell for boxing is a facility for them to call their own,” Yassin asserted.
According to the GOA President, sport is “serious business” and because of the lack of support for athletes from Government there are not enough “fulltime athletes”. “They have to work and train to get money for insurance, nutrition etc.,” he added.
Yassin said that the GOA was able to assist Pompey with an Olympic Solidarity Scholarship, but “support is not forthcoming. I would like to see support from Government and the Private Sector so that we could support our athletes.”
In response to Kumar’s claim that the Government has provided millions of dollars to assist teams to compete internationally, the GOA head said he would be grateful if the Director could indicate the Associations to have benefitted from such largesse.
“Give the names and amounts of those associations who’ve benefitted from Government’s support, I need to see the list of who received the millions of dollars he spoke about,” Yassin said.
On Kumar’s comment that GOA seems to be “lost” and “helpless”, Yassin revealed that they have appealed without success to work with the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport on several occasions.
Yassin told the gathering of reporters, Kumar’s charge that the GOA has never approached the Government to have a member attend an Olympic Games in any capacity is far from the truth, citing an invitation sent to President Donald Ramotar asking him to be present at the London Games.
According to Yassin, the GOA was told that it was not possible for him to attend, while on no less than two occasions Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Dr. Frank Anthony was invited to Meetings of Sport Ministers, especially one that was held in Moscow. It was an all expenses paid trip, but the minister’s response was that he could not attend.
He reminded that it is not the GOA’s fault that a Government official has not attended the Games for over two decades because during his tenure invitations were sent, but none was accepted. He made these revelations to highlight the fact that GOA made several failed attempts to have a productive relationship with Government. “I find these (Kumar’s) statements scandalous and offensive,” he retorted.
“We would like to work with the ministry, when we go to them to ask for assistance, we are told there is no finance. Even if we don’t go to ministry, I see nothing wrong with them coming to us. This is a two-way street,” he indicated.
Yassin also addressed Kumar’s claim that the selection for the Olympic Games is controlled by a “select” group of people when he stated that the only way to be selected for the Olympics is to qualify. In the instances of wildcard allowances, Yassin stated that the international federations often make the selections and not the GOA or local associations.
Asked to confirm whether a similar funding will be committed to Junior World Championships silver medallist, Kadecia Baird, Yassin informed that he is willing to commit on record without hesitation pending approval from the International Olympic Committee.
He, however, believed that Government will have to show more commitment if sports is to be developed to international standards, while the presentation of the long-awaited Sports Policy and the use of the Lotto funds for the advancement of sports are some of the recommendations that the GOA President offered.
He also spoke of the reconstitution of the National Sports Commission as another prerequisite to aid in the development of sport. Yassin stated that he is willing to support any initiative that calls for a National Forum where all the stakeholders in sport meet to plot the way forward.
The GOA boss then urged the media to not only criticize the work of sport administrators, but to also advance recommendations that will enable officials to correct mistakes or even implement new ideas.

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