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Warning signs point to chaos on April 12

Mar 19, 2013 Sports

 

 

By Rawle Welch

It seems as though the commendable effort of the FIFA / CONCACAF Mediation team that visited Guyana earlier this year, to bring an end to the longstanding dispute between the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) and its affiliates, will not generate the desired results as expected, and many feel that the sport could be heading – as it had been prior to the high-level visit – into an abyss.
This view surfaced following allegations of meddling of the processes by agents purportedly representing the GFF during voting at some of its affiliates’ Annual Election Meetings.
Many feel that with the impending Electoral Congress (scheduled to take place on April 12 as mandated by the FIFA / CONCACAF team) the local governing body’s extensive involvement in just the electoral processes is self-serving and suspicious, and does not bode well for a harmonious relationship with important stakeholders going forward, or the future development of the sport, which has been severely affected by the ongoing rancor and distrust between the GFF and its affiliates.
The overwhelming complaint is why the GFF is continuing to preside over electoral processes that from all appearances do not conform to the standard constitutional requirements of the respective bodies.
This behaviour is threatening to create chaos heading into the Congress, a situation which could see the return of the FIFA / CONCACAF team, but regrettably this time to impose sanctions which could then set Guyana’s football further back.
The GFF, which signed on to do all in its power to reignite thrust and holistic development among stakeholders for the good of the game, should be equipped with the necessary expertise to ensure that every club eligible to vote in their respective associations’ AGMs are allowed to do so following the completion of obligatory prerequisites.
From the reports seen to date, some of its officers have not facilitated this process and therefore have allowed a large degree of cynicism and in some cases double standards to infiltrate the procedure and more importantly, the minds of the voters.
How could the GFF feel comfortable and justified that it has done everything in its power to enable every stakeholder to have a say in who governs, when it supervises a process that leaves affiliates disgruntled and divided. This surely could not be the promise it made to the FIFA / CONCACAF officials. Why have so many voters been left out of such an important procedure, leaving not only a tinge of bitterness, but a surplus of bad blood?
The FIFA / CONCACAF team were warned of the entrenched obstinacy of a few among the warring factions and this has begun to manifest itself. The continued inflexibility, if not addressed before the GFF Congress, will ultimately result in punishment for Guyana’s football and despair for aspiring youngsters.
As has been witnessed in the past, the FIFA / CONCACAF Committee possesses the power to facilitate a clean process, but relying on a Federation that has repeatedly shown its hand as being devoid of acting fairly can be counter-productive. The next move would invariably be crippling sanctions.
The warning signs are there for all to see and only the direct intervention of the world and regional governing bodies could avert a repeat of the less than encouraging past.

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