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Matthias refutes claims by Tappin, Xavier
By Rawle Welch
It is now 27 days since a new executive has been installed in the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) and already there are clear signs that the new Body is under attack by some who are still grumbling about the outcome of the Electoral Congress held on April 12.
President of the GFF, Christopher Matthias, during an interview with Kaieteur Sport yesterday, in response to accusations of his unwillingness to give backing to the Guyana Beach Football Association (GBFA)’s Select Squad, said that the attempt by a few to disrupt his tenure in office will simply not work, since the Body is relentlessly focused on completing and disseminating the National Development Plan that was promised to all of its members at the earliest possible date.
Christopher Matthias
The GFF came in for a scathing attack from two officials (Rollin Tappin and Mark Xavier), who claimed to be the Assistant Coach and Manager respectively, of the Select Squad, and who were attempting to accompany the team to the CONCACAF Qualifiers for the 2013 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in the Bahamas.
Matthias, to whom much of the blame was apportioned, refuted the accusations of lack of support for the team and was adamant that the GFF executive will remain attentive to its set agenda as advised by FIFA, CONCACAF, CFU and the Government.
According to the GFF Head, it is instructive that the real executive of the GBFA did not come out and offer any support for the two officials who both, in releases carried in some sections of the media, blamed Matthias for the team’s no-show at the tournament, pointing to his handling of the issue in relation to assuring the travel agency that the tickets purchased would be paid as the main theme for their gripe.
However, this newspaper has seen a copy of an e-mail purportedly sent by Xavier on Monday, May 6, 2013 to Beach Soccer World Wide Competitions Department’s Assistant Manager, Egor Xepkin Bulgakov, where it was stated that “our tickets for our flight have already been bought so we will definitely be participating”.
Matthias said that the Federation could not ascertain the accuracy of the promises supposedly made by business entities as mentioned by the two officials and secondly, he had intimated to them very early that the Federation was heavily indebted and not in a position to facilitate any financing for such an undertaking.
“First of all, allow me to make this revelation, the GFF currently owes a set of individuals and companies over $29 million and this figure is what the new executive inherited when it came to office, among which is a significant amount owed to the said travel agency in question, and the executive was not prepared to add more on to that debt, so we could not endorse those tickets,” Matthias said. Evidently, not keen on referring to the issue as a small matter, Matthias informed that he is aware of the sacrifices the players made to prepare themselves, but it should not be seen as the GFF being obstructive in assisting the advancement of their respective careers. He said the blame must be put squarely at the door of the two officials, who according to him, in the first instance, were allegedly not authorised by the GBFA and secondly, furnished inconsistent information to the GFF, GBFA and the Beach Soccer World Wide Competitions Department.
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