Disappointment !!!…Beach footballers Olympics qualifying hopes crushed following administrative mix up

May 08, 2013 Sports

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By Michael Benjamin
Guyana’s hopes of qualifying for the FIFA Beach Football World Cup Championships, scheduled for Tahiti in September, were dashed after a 15-man squad selected by the Guyana Beach Volleyball Association (GBVA), scheduled to participate in the Qualifiers in Nassau Bahamas, from today to May 12, were forced abandon plans following administrative bungling characterized by blame shifting.
The twelve players are: Michael Wilson, Darrel George, Travis Bess, Jermaine Grandison, Claude Dennis, Keon Sears, Ron Fiedtkou, Marmarlaque Davidson, Odil Allicock, Omron Wills, Gerald Blair and Colric Beckles.
Mark Xavier was assigned Manager/Team Administrator, while Abdulla Hamid and Rollin Tappin were the Coach and Assistant Coach respectively.

The players are based in Linden and its immediate environs and traveled to Georgetown Monday evening last and were scheduled to board a plane yesterday morning for a one night stopover in Panama before proceeding to Nassau Bahamas where they were scheduled to play CONCACAF champions, Mexico, at 17:00hrs today.
Mr. Xavier said that the team arrived in Georgetown on Monday evening with the intention of seeking an audience with President of the GFF, Christopher Matthias, to receive his blessings. He said that this did not fructify as repeated calls to Mr. Matthias’ phone went unanswered. Consequently, Mr. Xavier said that he spoke with Vice President of the Georgetown Football Association, Mark Phillips, who in turn communicated with Mr. Matthias.
But even before that, Mr. Xavier said that he engaged Mr. Matthias in discussions moments before he (Matthias) chaired a meeting with members of the Guyana Football Coaches Association (GFCA) at the GFF Section K Campbellville office last week.
“He told me that he had no problems giving his blessings to the team but he also said that he could not guarantee any assistance since the GFF was cash strapped,” explained Mr. Xavier. He said that the GFF boss even reached out to the team and promised to personally contribute a sum of money towards the team’s expenses. “That contribution was never disbursed to us,” complained Xavier.
In all, expenses to facilitate the trip rose to more than $3.7M and the team Manager further explained that in order to curtail these expenses, he sought the intervention of the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, Frank Anthony who in turn assisted to the extent that the Commissioner General of the Guyana Revenue Authority, Khurshid Sattaur, waived the Travel Voucher Tax for the entire team.
Consequently, the players also agreed to forego more than US$620 per diem as well as the US$200 laundry fees which reduced the cost considerably.
Further, Mr. Xavier explained that Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, Alfred King, had already contributed approximately $400,000 on behalf of his Ministry and had committed to a further sum to offset the cost for two additional airline tickets.
He said that the team was at a juncture where they already acquired 11 airline tickets with concrete promises by two reliable firms that they would have offset the other three tickets. “Since time was against us and we were unable to collect the promised sum, we requested that the GFF vouch for us until the contributing firms fulfilled their commitment in a few days time,” explained Mr. Xavier.
He also said that he spoke with General Secretary (GFF), Noel Adonis, who in turn said that he was unable to issue the requisite permission devoid of Mr. Matthias’ input. Thereafter, Mr. Xavier said he attempted to speak with Mr. Matthias but his phone rang out.
Meanwhile, the footballers were at a makeshift camp in South Ruimveldt awaiting word from the team management of their fate. Desperation eventually set in around 06:00hrs yesterday morning after repeated efforts to solicit the intervention of officials of the GFF failed.
The management team then sought the intervention of Aubrey ‘Shanghai’ Major who worked feverishly to appease the situation. Mr. Major spoke with representatives of the travel agency but they remained adamant that they were unable to compromise the stand of their entity unless Mr. Matthias had affirmed the deal.
Kaieteur Sport spoke with Mr. Matthias who debunked claims made by the administrators of the touring team. He said that at no time did he agree to meet with the team at the GFF offices. “Monday was a national holiday and I was engaged in personal matters and never assented to any meeting,” the GFF boss adamantly declared. He said that he was in constant contact with the President of the GBFA from the very onset and he had informed them that his executives were unable to contribute to the finances of the team. He also said that at no time did he commit to any personal contribution.
The GFF President said that he was in constant contact with President of the GBFA, Garth Nelson, via email and at no time was he informed that either Xavier or Rollins were representatives of the entity. “No one spoke to me, I am totally ignorant of any of their arrangements and at no time was I asked to meet the team to relay my blessings,” Mr. Mathias adamantly declared.
Meanwhile, Mr. Adonis admitted that Mr. Xavier had sought his intervention in the matter. He said that the team Manager had indeed assured him that several reputable businessmen had committed to sums of money to offset the trip.
However, the General Secretary said that shortly afterwards Mr. Xavier had informed him that those businessmen had reneged and were no longer supporting the team. Mr. Adonis said that since the team administrators were unable to provide concrete evidence to support their claims of receiving assistance, his executives were not prepared to go out on a limb.
“We asked for names and evidence to support their claims that they had acquired reputable commitments but up to yesterday afternoon the team was unable to provide substantial evidence and we had no other option but to withhold any support,” explained the General Secretary.
He further said that the executive members of the GBFA had been approved as provisional members at the GFF Congress last month even though that entity had not held elections in keeping with the constitution.
The team has been christened ‘Golden Sand Jaguars’ and were also scheduled to play Canada on May 9 before opposing Trinidad and Tobago one day later. Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago were the newcomers to this format of the game at this level that also saw several other power teams participating.
These countries included Canada, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Bahamas, Guatemala and the United States of America. Two teams will eventually qualify for the Tahiti tournament.

 

 

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