The Matthias Constitutional Blunders

Jun 10, 2014 Letters

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Dear Editor,
As far as I know, the members of the so-called “Breakaway Congress” of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF), that brought a vote of No Confidence against the GFF President, Mr. Christopher Matthias, has NOT apologized, and I don’t see an apology forthcoming.
I am shocked that some media personnel choose to dub these guys the “Breakaway Congress” when they constitute a more than 2/3 majority of the members that are eligible to vote.  Furthermore, how does one apologize for doing what is right?  Also, how can Matthias say that he forgives them, has Matthias all of a sudden become magnanimous?
I can assure you that magnanimity is NOT characteristic of Christopher Matthias.  Had these members of Congress done anything wrong Matthias would surely be hunting their heads as we speak.I say this because when Matthias had the opportunity to be magnanimous he acted to the contrary.
When the Upper Demerara Football Association (UDFA) held the finals of their year-end tournament on January 1, last, in defiance of a directive handed down by the Congress, Matthias led a vicious campaign to ban all the Executives of the UDFA, including Collie Hercules, a Vice President on his own Executive Committee.
Not only did he champion this ban, he acted as prosecutor in this case, even advocating for the UDFA Executives to be banned from football for 25 years.  The good sense of the Congress prevailed and bans were handed down for eight years and five years for the Executives. Even this seems draconian considering the offence.  However, this is the real Matthias.
I have spoken with many members of the Congress and they have intimated that they are even more resolved than before to carry out the vote of No Confidence against Matthias.  They understand that this is just a small delay in a righteous fight that cannot, and must not be abandoned because the preservation of Guyana’s footballing future is at stake.
The late Maya Angelou  said, “People will show you who they really are, believe them.”  Matthias has shown us enough to convince us that he is the worst thing that could have happened to Guyana football at this time.
The lies, deceptions, manipulations, and general transgressions of Matthias are quite numerous, too numerous to mention in one article so I’ll name a few.  Matthias registered a Beach Football team to represent Guyana at the Concacaf Beach Football World Cup Qualifiers in the Bahamas in April of last year.
On the eve of the team leaving for the Bahamas, Matthias decided not to send the team because, I, the author of this letter, refused to scratch the name of one of the players and carry one of his close friends in the players’ stead.  Matthias had named me Administrator of the team with the function of Manager.  This was a clear violation of Concacaf’s policy of participation in an International tournament.
However, Matthias lied to the Congress and the nation when he assured us that he was given assurances from Concacaf that there will be no sanctions against Guyana.  Needless to say, Guyana was fined $22,500 US.  As for the Linden issue:  Matthias, in his zeal to ban the Executives of the UDFA, whom he perceived to be opposed to him, convened an illegal Extraordinary Congress on January 17th.2014, with an agenda to ban these UDFA Executives.
I have seen emails that had been sent to Matthias the day before the Extraordinary Congress was convened (January 16th. 2014.), by members of the GFF Executive, cautioning Matthias and warning him that he was convening an illegal Congress because These Executives did not have a say in the decision to convene the Extraordinary Congress, nor did they have the opportunity to help draw up the agenda.  Matthias lied and misled certain members of the Congress and made them believe that the congress was properly convened.
This is a blatant and willful contravention of the GFF statutes as it relates to the convening of an Extraordinary Congress.  Article 27:1 of the GFF Constitution states:  “The EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE may convene an Extraordinary Congress at any time.”Article 27:4 states:  “When an Extraordinary Congress is convened on the initiative of the Executive Committee, it (Executive Committee) must draw up the agenda.
The GFF Executives who challenged the constitutionality of the Extraordinary Congress did so on the basis that they were not involved in convening the congress nor drawing up the agenda.  Article 19:1 of the GFF Constitution states: “The congress is the meeting at which members of the federation regularly convene.  It represents the supreme legislative authority of the federation.  Only a Congress that is duly convened has the authority to make decisions.  It is clear, Dear Editor, that the UDFA were banned at an Extraordinary Congress that was improperly convened and therefore the Congress had no authority to make any decision.  This is wrong!  This needs to be made right!
It is against this backdrop that I insist that Matthias apologize to the Congress for misleading them; apologize to the UDFA, who, through his blatant violation of the GFF’s Constitution, led the Congress to illegally make a decision that turned out to be injurious to the entire UDFA.
Furthermore, Matthias must apologize to this entire nation for lying to them repeatedly.  Maybe then someone will find it in their heart to forgive him.  I suspect, however, that even God Himself will have His work cut out for Him in forgiving Matthias, for the transgressions are way too many.
Regards
Mark Xavier

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