New GFF being guided by Regional and World bodies’ recommendations - Persaud

New GFF being guided by Regional and World bodies’ recommendations – Persaud

Apr 29, 2013 Sports

Vice-President of the Guyana Football Federation Ivan Persaud speaking at Saturday’s media briefing at the Demerara Harbour Bridge Head Office responding to queries regarding the activities of the past administration disclosed that the current executive is being guided by recommendations of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU), CONCACAF and FIFA.

Ivan Persaud

Persaud, who accompanied President Christopher Matthias to the CONCACAF Congress which was held in Panama recently, has been tasked with setting up the Technical and Tactical Development Programme for the continued development of the sport locally.
According to the Vice-President, Guyana was well represented by the new President, who he said made his voice heard during the Congress and who managed to engage a number of countries for their expertise and advice that could aid in restructuring the country’s football fortunes.
Matthias speaking to the media expressed optimism on the way forward for the sport, informing that funding for programmes should not be difficult once the Federation adheres to the policy of being transparent and inclusive.
“The generation of funds is one of the easiest things. We need to properly market the brand and our efforts will be to make the sport a household name,” Matthias told the media.
He reckoned that the initial focus is to ascertain the financial viability of the entity, ensuring that the records reflect accuracy, while their energies will also exerted in the direction of improving the image of the sport which has been tainted following the cash-for-votes scandal.
In response to the question of where women’s football is positioned presently, Matthias said the women’s game has become a priority on the CFU, CONCACAF and FIFA lists and that in itself leaves the GFF with no other choice that to treat it as such.
Meanwhile Vice-President Rawleston Adams in his remarks pointed to fruitful discussions with Minister of Sport Frank Anthony as evidence of the Body’s willingness to divert from the old dispensation and engage major stakeholders, adding that the next task is to meet with the corporate community for their input as well.
“We have to work to build confidence within the business community through being accountable, inclusive and transparent,” Adams said. It was stated that the Minister had given the visiting team some ideas and they are in the process of assessing them, before arriving at decisions that will benefit the country.
In relation to the issue of the timely release of financial statements, Matthias was adamant that the new dispensation is not to hide anything from any stakeholder. He thanked the Minister for affording them the time to meet and discuss the way forward for the sport, while his suggestions were respectfully accepted.