Football development will continue to be our focus – GFF President, Wayne Forde

Apr 11, 2017 Sports

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Just back from representing Guyana at the XXXII CONCACAF Ordinary Congress in Aruba on the weekend and preparing to welcome FIFA President Gianni Infantino to these shores today, GFF President Wayne Forde who along

with Executive Member Dion Inniss were in Aruba, has stated that football development would continue to take centre stage.
Kaieteur Sport sought to get the views of Forde on what has been happening in the sport and what is the forward focus of the executive for holistic football development.
Following are the questions and answers:
Kaieteur Sport: What is your take on the wave of on and off the field activities in the past two months or so?

Wayne Forde: I believe it would be fair to say that the GFF has been very active beyond the past two months; however I do accept that the past two months have been particularly busy. We are ultimately focusing on our number one priority, which is football.
The Executive Committee is extremely confident that the fraternity and all of Guyana is finally seeing a body that is delivering on its campaign promises and doing everything within its power to keep the focus on football.
The institutional changes we are pushing through will take time to yield lasting results but make no mistake; football needs new faces and new blood in order to charter a new course for itself. I am determined to put this sport that I love with every cell in my body on a successful path.
Kaieteur Sport: While the on field aspect is on the rise with multiple competitions at the Intra Association level, what is or will be done to ensure that administratively associations and by extension clubs are solid and prepared to manage the new wave of development, effectively?

Wayne Forde: Let me first recognise the daily sacrifices many football administrators are making at the club and association levels. These servants of the sport include Coaches, Secretaries, Presidents and many others. Most of them are doing this purely for the love of the game, while others may have different interests at stake. We have accommodated everyone; this sport belongs to all of us.
We see evidence of some Presidents making a genuine effort to develop football in their respective associations, while others are showing very little or no interest in taking any initiative to play football. We are here to support all of our members but want the message to be clear that they have significant responsibility to organise programmes within their membership.
The GFF will be conducting a range of capacity building programmes in the third quarter of 2017 with the aim of enhancing the capacity of our Regional Associations in the delivery of services to their members.
The GFF is also drawing up regulations that will allow us to offer financial support to our members but that too is not a substitute for being proactive.
Kaieteur Sport: Are you satisfied that associations are ready and can effectively handle and support the level that the executive is taking the game?
Wayne Forde: We have to help them to be ready, the amount of football that will be playing in another six months will be unprecedented in many ways. I am sometimes concerned that the GFF might also find it difficult to cope but we have to be positive and keep learning by self correcting each time we stumble. I am excited and optimistic about Guyana’s football and want to bring the country along for the ride.
Kaieteur Sport: The GFF would be welcoming the boss of world football, what are you as President looking forward to from the President’s visit?

Wayne Forde: The President and I have a very close and engaging relationship, I keep him very up to date with the projects we are doing and some of the daily challenges we have to confront. He is very smart and experienced and always offers sound advice. He finds it difficult to understand the state of our playing facilities and the lack of investment in sports facilities in Guyana. I am hoping that this trip will above all things, give him a firsthand experience of the monumental catching up we have to do.
I would also like to add that it takes much longer to regain credibility than is does to lose it. I am focused on getting things done with the hope that all stakeholders will see and feel the commitment this executive is bringing to the sport and finally lend meaningful support to football.
Many are not aware that we are not compensated for a job that requires twelve hours a day from your business, family and friends. We believe that the work of the GFF will restore credibility which is an essential and valuable asset that has been missing from our balance sheet for far too long.
I am not here to fight anyone, to respond obsessively to critics, indulge those that knows almost nothing about the sport of football, instead I am here to get about with the work of football quietly and effectively and I think I am doing just fine.
My ultimate goal is to bring the football family together so that we can all share in the pride that will be derived from the massive improvements that will take place in a few years.

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