Letter to the Sports Editor…Members of the GFF Congress challenge Matthias to public debate via print media

May 31, 2014 Sports

---

Dear Sports Editor,
Speaking at a Press Briefing before a wide cross section of the media at the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Head Office on May 23, 2014, President of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Christopher Matthias called on disgruntled members to appoint someone to face off against him to discuss their grievances on national television in front of a national audience and let them be the judge.
Mr. Christopher Matthias, President GFF, who has been in office for just over one year and who has challenged the members of Congress to a public debate on National Television on issues that brought about a no confidence motion by us the members and made a pronouncement by saying that if he is found liable of any wrongdoing by the public at large then he would do the honorable thing and resign.
Mr. Matthias, President of the Guyana Football Federation, we the members did not see it fit to accept your offer to have a public debate on national television at the expense of the cash strapped Federation, however we are prepared to have that debate here in the print media that will be seen by the entire World and not just a few that the national television station will reach.
Mr. President, since you want the public to judge who is wrong and who is right, please answer the under-mentioned issues for the public to judge.
1. Sir you lied to your entire executives and to this Nation when you left Guyana to attend a FIFA meeting in Zurich August 2013 and never did so and reported that you did. Produce your Passport with the evidence of entry to Zurich, Switzerland between the period of August 28 – September 3, 2013.
2. Who give you the permission to spend money from your company, Express Shipping, during the opening of the Federation Season held on Sunday August 11, 2013, at GCC Ground along with refurbishing of the Presidential office at the GFF and reclaimed payment in excess of 1,800,000? Which you received.
3. You lied to the Congress and this Nation when you assured all that Guyana would not be fined after you withdrew the beach Football Team from participating in the World Cup qualifier, Concacaf zone. (Guyana was fined USD$22,500).
4. You sent Mr. Rawlston Adams (VP Resigned) a Lawyers letter for challenging your method of leadership during one of your executive committee meetings. Can you tell us if that is proper leadership???
5. You lied to your Executive Committee that Banks DIH was sponsoring the Grand opening Ceremony of the GFF 2013 Season held at GCC ground on August 11, 2013, which cost the GFF over 3,000,000.
6. You also misled your Executives Committee and all affiliated Members and its Clubs of the GFF that Banks DIH is sponsoring the GFF Premier League. The league has since concluded and to date there is no evidence of any form of sponsorship between the Federation and Banks DIH. Kindly produce the sponsorship contract entered between Banks DIH Ltd. and the Federation.
7. Who give permission to your Personal Assistant, Miss Charmaine Wade, to collect monies and make payments on behalf of the Federation without the knowledge of finance department, the General Secretary and the Executives Committees members? To make matters worse, she had no supporting documents to account for the monies received and payments made. Is this good accountability practices???
(a) History is repeating itself from 2001, when you was president of GFA and you and the then Treasurer could not have accounted for $500,000 from sponsorship monies that never entered the coffers of the Georgetown Football Association and you were voted out as President by way of a No Confidence Motion brought against you as the then President, GFA, for financial impropriety! Was this so or not?
8. Is the finance department of the Federation still active and who is the accounting officer of that department, after all the personnel have since resigned including the General Secretary, who has responsibility for all record keeping of the Federation?
9. The word Interim means as follows:-
a) having temporary effect: serving as a temporary measure until something more complete and permanent can be established
b)    holding temporary office: serving temporarily until a permanent replacement can be elected or appointed.
The above meaning speaks for itself that an IMC do not have voting rights to make policy decisions, since they are just provisional Members.
Please give a direct answer to this question?? Is an IMC a full member or a provisional Member???.
Please explain to the World and this Nation under whose directive, where and when was the constitution amended to allow Interim Management Committees to have voting rights as a full member? If the IMC have the same rights as full members, then who needs full membership?
10.    We need you to interpret to the World and this Nation where the following articles hereunder allows for IMC’s having voting rights??.
Article 9: Admission:
Article 9: 4.
“This article shall not affect the status of existing Members providing that they are in conformity with the provision of this constitution”.
11.    Article 10: Request and procedure for application for full and provisional membership
Article 10: 2.
“In case the applicant has been granted provisional membership, it will enjoy all the rights of a full member upon the prior approval of the Federation. However, it will have no voting rights at the congress”.
12.    Article 11: Members rights:
Article 11: 2.
“The exercise of these rights is subject to other provisions in these Statutes and the applicable regulation.
13.    Article 35: Dismissal of a person or body.
Article 35: 5.
“The person or body dismissed by the Congress or provisionally dismissed by the Executives Committee must be relieved of its functions with immediate effect.
14.    Article 19: Definition and composition of the Congress.
Article 19: 3.
“The Congress may appoint observers who take part in the Congress without the rights to debate or to vote.
15.    Article 20: Delegates and votes.
Article 20: 2.
“Delegates must belong to the Member that they represent and be appointed or elected by the appropriate body of that Member. They must be able to produce evidence of this upon request”
None of the So-called IMC’s had produced any form of evidence that they were appointed by their appropriate bodies.
16.    Article 34: Decisions
1    The Executive Committee shall not engage in decision making unless four of its members are present.
2    The Executive Committee shall reach decisions by a simple majority of the members present. In the event of a tied vote, the President shall have the casting vote. Voting by proxy or by letter is not permitted.
3    Any member of the Executive Committee must withdraw from the debate and from taking a decision if there is any risk or possibility of a conflict of interest.
4    The decisions taken shall be recorded in the minutes.
5    The decisions taken by the Executive Committee shall come into effect immediately, unless the Executive Committee decides otherwise.
Sir, under this article please clarify who made the decisions to validate Bartica and Upper Demerara (Linden) as IMC’s. Please provide any form of written evidence that whoever made these decisions and who met with the Bartica Executives and the clubs of Upper Demerara (Linden) respectively, notifying them of their constitution violation and informing them of the change of status from being a full Member to a provisional Member.
Please provide us with the documentation where in accordance with the GFF and the BFA constitutions were written to requesting a meeting? Also at which meeting date and time were the BFA executive’s vote out in a motion of no confidence? That led to the adjustment in Status????
Under Article 34:
Please explain to the World and this Nation the reason for the termination of the Deputy General Secretary of the Guyana Football Federation Mr. George Rutherford and who terminated his services.  When the GFF Executive Committee Members learned of such dismissal via the media and when challenged members of the Executive it becomes personal and led to one member Mr. Rawlston Adams receiving a Lawyers letter from you.
(Kindly see attached your dismissal letter to Mr. Rutherford, which reflected personal grievances.)
1.    Article 55: General Secretary
1.    The General Secretary is the chief executive of the general secretariat.
Article 55: 3
(I)     the appointment and dismissal of staff working in the general secretariat;
(J) proposing the appointment of managerial staff to the President.
Kindly referred to the article/s of any of these Statutes, GFF, CFU, Concacaf and FIFA            that give you the authority to hire and or fire any member of the secretariat of the GFF?
of which you consistently continued to abuse your privilege overriding the power vested in you under these constitutions.
2.    Why do you feel that you should hold on to the Presidency of the GFF regardless of what the constituents said or the constitution?
3.    Do you agree that you committed perjury during the sitting of Congress as Chairman?
4.    What was the reason for you firing all the members of the staff of the previous executives and employing only your friends and family who are not competent and knowledgeable of football and administration as a whole. When the Constitution did not give you such authority?
5.    Why is it that in every facet of your life, you had to leave or forced to leave under questionable circumstances? eg. UG, CUSTOMS, GFA, CHURCH to name a few.
This is just part one of the debate, as part two depending on your response to the above questions that required substantial supportive evidence of your response.
For The Game. For The World.
Attached are the signatures of the Members of Congress:
Vernon Burnett – President GFA
Odinga Lumumba – General Secretary GFA
Wayne Francois – President EBDFA
Franklyn Wilson – Secretary EBDFA
Aubrey Hutson – President EDFA
Joseph Wilson – Secretary (ag) EDFA
Aubrey Henry – 1st Vice President NAWF
Alfred King – President GFRC
Wayne Dover – President GFCA

---

---