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Cole endorses Matthias for GFF President
He has worn many hats in the football arena both as a former player, and outstanding Administrator and in an interview with members of the media yesterday, he emphatically endorsed Christopher Matthias to be the next President of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF).
Marlan Cole
Marlan Cole, the former President of Fruta Conquerors FC, current Co-Director of the Petra Organisation, former Secretary of the Georgetown Football Association (GFA) and a player, speaking with the media said he stood steadfast behind Matthias, informing that what the current General Secretary of the GFA has done for football over the past two years is testimony to his commitment and willingness to see the advancement of the sport despite facing great obstacles over the period.
According to Cole, who has served in an administrative capacity for a number of years, Matthias is the best candidate of the four in his opinion, pointing to his courage in standing up to the once mighty GFF and willing to risk his career as a football administrator as traits that swayed his advocacy for him.
He pointed to his willingness to instigate constitutional reform as another feature of the man that gained his nod over the others, while his knowledge of administration and his open-minded personality are all excellent characteristics that could improve the image in the sport.
“Matthias as I’ve seen over the past two years is an approachable guy and one who is willing to listen and accommodate views from the other side with sincerity, traits that were lacking from those who it was clear to see transmitted quite the opposite,” Cole said.
Cole, who was part of the GFA that many within football circles unanimously agreed was one of the better administrations in recent times, claimed to be quite familiar with what obtained during the Colin Klass era that was dominated by unilateral rulership and intolerant of diverse views.
“I know the ins and outs of football and I know of some of the things we suffered under Klass, who incidentally had a chief lieutenant in the person of Aubrey ‘Shanghai’Major, someone now vying for the positon of President of the GFF,” Cole disclosed.
Cole added that he and Mathias are not really friends, but his support for him also stemmed from the process by which he was nominated to contest for the GFF Presidency.
“Here you have the most active assocaiton with over 17 or 18 clubs, nine of which categorically stated that they’ve nominated Matthias for Presidency. They had two distinguished gentlemen who ran alongside Mathias- Joe Harrmon, MP and Colonel Bruce Lovell and the process that the GFA used could have seen either Lovell or Harmon being nominated, but the nine clubs chose Matthias. Lets say that if each of those nine clubs have a 100 players, then it means that 900 players in Georgetown and by extension Guyana was given an opportunity to select and nominate a candidate who they feel would represent them effectively, the nomination process that was used by the GFA I am going with the wishes of the clubs and the judgment of the executives to say that Matthias is the man to go in that race.”
Seondly, according to Cole, Matthias is part of a successful GFA that is in good financial standing in the form of millions of dollars in its account.
“This is the association that followed the Troy Mendonca- led administration, and they’ve stood up to the GFF in terms of taking them to Court, having FIFA / CONCACAF intervene and also being able to stage a successful yearend tournament twice so that they could be financially buoyant. All this was done in addition to the continuation of reform, while the act of democracy exhibited by the GFA was also commendable and I think that is the way to go. I would like to see a GFF become a GFA in terms of generating funds off its own which Mathhias was part and parcel of accomplishing and that is why he is my candidate for the Presidency of the GFF,” Cole, who was speaking in a personal capacity stated.
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