WHERE THERE IS DECLINE, THE PREDATORS MOVE IN!

Dec 02, 2013 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

It is one thing for institutions to decline and fade away. It is another thing for them to be placed on the auction block.
The reports this week that an offer was made for the takeover of the Georgetown Cricket Club and Georgetown Football Club should be of concern to all Guyanese. These are historic institutions in Guyana and it is disturbing to learn that yet again there has been attempt to take over yet another one.
The inadequacies of both grounds were long known. The Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) lacked adequate practice pitches with the result that a proposal was made years ago for the merger of this ground with the GFC as to ensure that improved facilities could have been available. Nothing ever came of those attempts because in the end, both clubs wanted to maintain their individual status.
In the case of the GFC, that ground is too small for hosting major football matches with the result that there is encroachment by spectators whenever there is a major fixture. The size of the ground is also ill-suited for international football. In addition, other football grounds have become popular and therefore the GFC is no longer seen as a major fixture for club football.
As Cricket World Cup 2007 was being organized, it was clear that a new stadium was needed in Guyana, as was the case in most of the Caribbean territories. There was however floated a plan to upgrade the GCC ground so as to allow it to host matches. The organizers had indicated that grounds hosting matches were required to have a specified security perimeter. In the case of the GCC it was impossible to have this perimeter because it would have encroached on private property.
Because of this, the idea of merging the GCC and the GFC was once again floated. Based on reports in the media, it does seem as if both clubs had agreed to the merger so as to allow for improvements. However, in the end, the government decided to construct a new stadium. This was a sound decision which could not be faulted then and still cannot be faulted.
The implications for the GCC was however devastating. It meant that one of the premier cricketing venues in the Caribbean would never again host a Test or One Day International and would be confined to competing to hosting matches in the longer version of the Regional First Class League. Bourda has in fact hosted such matches and just recently hosted an Under 19 International. In order to survive, clubs need a revenue source and in the case of both the GCC and the GFC, their traditional revenue sources had dried up. The GFC was now competing with other grounds in hosting First Division Football. And the GCC which made money from hosting Regional and International cricket was hardly getting any of these matches. Thus began the decline in the fortunes of both clubs.
When decline is present, it is then that the predators move in. The GCC and the GFC were always going to be vulnerable to offers for a buyout so long as they remained enfeebled. An offer was made but has since been withdrawn.
There will be other offers in the future. But those persons entrusted with managing the affairs of both clubs must recognize that these sporting institutions cannot simply be treated as any piece of real estate. They are part of the history of Georgetown and the executives of both clubs have an obligation to not desecrate history by placing these swards under corporate control because there is really no guarantee that when placed in such hands that the purposes for which these institutions were created will be sustained.
The government also has similar obligations. It has to ensure that in any city there are adequate sporting facilities. It also has an obligation to preserve historic institutions. To simply allow historic sporting facilities to be moved into corporate hands would be a disaster.
The government holds the lease to the lands in question. But it has a greater lease towards preserving the history of institutions in Guyana because it is these institutions that have shaped our history.
It must also be mindful not to repeat the mistakes of the past. Both the GCC and the GFC were elitist clubs under colonial Guyana but both have since evolved to accommodate broad-based membership. To simply allow these historic institutions to end up in corporate hands, rather than retain the club ownership could see a return to elitism.
It would also make other clubs operating on lands leased from the State vulnerable to similar takeover offers.

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