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Work on Orangestein GOAL Project temporarily suspended- Matthias
– Met with Sport Minister, PS yesterday
By Rawle Welch
“All operations at Orangestein, East Bank Essequibo has been temporarily suspended and our focus now is to take up the offer being made by the Government which is to develop a Technical Centre and artificial pitch at Leonora, the site of the synthetic track,” President of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Christopher Matthias told this newspaper in an exclusive interview yesterday, at the Federation’s Head Office in Campbellville.
Dr. Frank Anthony
According to the GFF President, even though the sport of football needs a home of its own, the Orangestein location was badly designed in the first place so much so that the cost just to prepare the site would be astronomical and could take up a sizeable chunk of the allocated funds.
He said too that the Special Project slated for Linden is also earmarked to commence simultaneously with the Leonora offer from the Government and tenders will be out shortly to identify and select a Contractor to start the work.
Responding to the question of whether the GFF is taking the concerns expressed by FIFA Development Officer Howard McIntosh in relation to the GOAL Project seriously, Matthias assured that they were, especially when the implications are considered.
Matthias, along with Vice-Presidents Ivan Persaud and Collie Hercules and Committee Member Keith O’Jeer held talks with Minister of Sport Dr. Frank Anthony and Permanent Secretary Alfred King at the Minister’s Office yesterday and among the topics that they discussed was the concerns raised by the FIFA official and how the Government and the GFF could collaborate to realise the Project at the proposed Leonora location.
“We were invited by the Minister to meet with them to discuss the way forward following the discussions held with Mr. McIntosh which he (Dr. Anthony) was a part of and today’s (yesterday’s) meeting was to follow up on some of the offers made by the Minister to us and the FIFA official, who had rated Guyana’s GOAL Project performance as poor and if steps were not taken quickly to begin work on the FIFA initiative then it could be withdrawn,” Matthias revealed.
Matthias was adamant that Guyana’s football could only develop in a structured manner which is the current mandate of the Federation since it is the firm belief of the entity that progress in the sport could only be achieved by staying on that course.
He thanked the Government for committing to grant the GFF a piece of land at Leonora to build the Technical Centre and is looking forward to future engagements between the two principals on the subject of the sport’s development.
Audit of the GFF Financial Records-
Christopher Matthias
Matthias told this newspaper that in keeping with an earlier declaration when he promised that the new executive will be conducting a forensic audit to ascertain how monies were spent during the previous administration, Ram and McRae Chartered Accountants have been retained and are currently interviewing members of staff including him and are expected to complete the process by October 31.
Integrity Commission-
The GFF Head informed that the three persons whose names have been touted will be notified shortly for their consent since it is felt that they will be able to benefit immensely while the auditors are there.
He, however, was not eager to disclose the names of the three individuals at this point in time, but promised to do so as soon as they confirm their interest.
Matthias also spoke on the controversial Kashif & Shanghai Football Extravaganza issue, the upcoming GFF Premier League and the national development strategy for future national teams.
See information in next issue.
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