The plot thickens: K&S football organization vows to preserve the interest of the sport

Oct 12, 2013 Sports

---

By Michael Benjamin
Twenty five years of glorious football that witnessed many exciting encounters and saw the top finishers carting off millions of dollars in prize money coupled with bragging rights, may be on the verge of extinction if organizers of the Kashif and Shanghai organization fail to comply with the stringent criteria demanded by executives of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF).
But while the principals of the K&S group are anxious to adhere to the principles and policies set out by the local ruling football body, one of the Directors, Aubrey ‘Shanghai’ Major, accuses the executive of the ruling body of instituting lopsided draconian policies aimed at frustrating their efforts which in the end could see the abortion of plans to host this year’s edition of the tournament.

A frustrated Major maintained that his group had created the Christmas season tournament and had worked ardently to promote the sport. He said that the officials of GFF had instituted a ban on the Guyana Football Association and the latter organization had moved to the courts to have the matter resolved. He said that the GFA top brass defied the spirit of goodwill and organized their tournament around the same period of the K&S extravaganza. “A court order was in effect that prohibited the ruling entity from preforming its mandate and that give rise to an unacceptable state of affairs where the GFA ignored FIFA’s goodwill policy and organized their tournament in tandem with ours,” lamented Major.
He further explained that local affiliates sought redress and President of CONCACAF, Jeff Webb, travelled to Guyana and hammered out a compromise. “The current GFF President (Christopher Matthias) was the General Secretary of the GFA and at the end of discussions, had agreed in principle to do all within his power to create a harmonious environment towards the continued development of the sport,” said Major. He also said that the then executive of the GFA had agreed in principle to shift their tournament to a new date especially since the K&S team had already established several dates for their tournament.
The disgruntled K&S Director pointed to what he construes as blatant impartiality, “Just imagine, the GFA already had their advertisements in the public sphere long before they sought approval from the parent body,” he noted. “This is a clear cut sign that there is a conspiracy to shut down the K&S organisation,” lamented Major. He further said that he suspects that the GFA had received unofficial assent to their requests and were merely officially adhering to protocol when they dispatched the relevant documents later on.
He said that in an effort to iron out the issue his group eventually met with the entire executive body of the GFF. Mr Major further said that the GFF executive wanted him to organize the tournament on different dates. He said that this was grossly unfair since his group had laboured to establish the hosting of the matches during the Christmas season and any shift would result in grave losses, even hampering the support base.
“We clearly said to them that we are not prepared to relinquish our established dates but they retained a firm stance,” explained Mr Major. He said that his organization was being placed in a no win situation since running his tournament parallel to the GFA event was purely suicidal. “There is no way that the K&S group could engage the involvement of the 16 odd teams under the umbrella of the GFA if both tournaments are planned side by side,” he contends. He said that it was for that reason that they sought protection and requested that the Banks DIH tournament be contested at another time.
Major remains adamant that his efforts are being frustrated since the GFF executives continue to shift the goalpost whenever they (K&S) seem able to meet the criteria. “They are really stretching us thin,” he contends. “First they asked us for proof of commitment of our sponsors to ensure that all prize monies are intact,” said Major. He said that his group had never faltered in this department before and were willing to satisfy this criterion. However, he said that the sponsors wanted assurances that his group would have received approval for the outlined dates. “This is a case of chicken and eggs; we have never defaulted before whether with prize money, levy fees, whatever, so this demand is a great surprise,” said the K&S executive.
He said that the next requirement entailed his executives seeking permission to host the tournament through an affiliate association. “We complied by garnering the requisite approval from the Association of Women’s Football yet the GFF executive continue to wield an uncompromising stick.”
So what is the final take on the issue and will the K&S tournament be relegated to the history books? “We are prepared to do whatever it takes to reclaim our tournament and give the Guyanese people the kind of entertainment they deserve,” vows Major. He said he is saddened by the acrimony emanating from among the fraternity. “There is too much envy and greed that if not curtailed will precipitate the death of the sport,” prophesied Major. He said that he is cognizant of the claims emanating from some sections of society that his group are insensitive to the needs of the players and had even shown disregard for Lindeners by removing the tournament from that community.
“That is far from the truth,” he said, “As a matter of fact, Linden continues to be integral in our developmental plans but we were forced to shift the tournament after the MSC Ground became inadequate,” he contends. Major further stated that the finals of the tournament were held in the Mining Community for over 20 years but the decision to shift resulted from the inadequacy of the venue. “It was an accident waiting to happen,” he contends.
He said that his group still continued to support the Linden community and engaged the executive of Ansa McAl in the refurbishment of the MSC facility. “We also installed adequate lighting and potable water but the general rehabilitation of the facility was simply beyond our scope,” said Major.
He reiterated that his group will fight with all its might to preserve their rights and by extension, the tournament that they had nurtured from scratch.

---

---