We are seeing the unfolding of the enhancement of football’s future

Jun 02, 2017 Letters

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Dear Editor,
I refer to my previous letter captioned, “Guyana is on the horizon of a transformation in local football,” KN, June 1, 2017. I concluded that letter by looking at the decision of the Guyana Football Federation’s decision to expand the Elite League. My current letter takes up from there. Of the clubs that documented their disagreement with the expanded Elite League, four (the Alpha United, GFC, Pele and Slingerz FC) elected not to participate in the 2016-17 Elite League. Further they indicated that unless an arbitration process was convened or the tournament reverted to eight teams, they will not compete in the 2016/2017 Elite league.
Subsequently the four clubs arbitrarily withdrew their participation which not only left them in bad standing with the GFF but also resulted in their relegation. Alpha United and Slingerz FC primarily felt the brunt of their decision to withdraw from the league as CONCACAF ruled them ineligible to participate in the CFU tournament in light of their bad standing with the GFF, although these teams secured the top two spots in the 2015/2016 Elite League which initially qualified them for the CFU tournament.
In what can be described as a peculiar and questionable intervention, the former Chairman of the Normalisation Committee in January 2017 dispatched a letter to the current President of CONCACAF requesting him to use his office to give a fair hearing to both sides and settle the matter fairly in the interest of football in Guyana. The letter also condemned the GFF administration for not using the appropriate arbitration procedures, questioned the bad status standing of Alpha United and Slingerz FC, stated that CONCACAF owed both the GFF and these clubs and asked for an explanation as to how it arrived at the decision to withdraw their participation from the CFU Tournament and expressed fear that a precedent had been set.
On February 1, 2017 FIFA’s General Secretary dispatched a letter to the GFF stating, “It is within the power of the GFF Executive Committee to change the regulations of the Elite League, including determining the number of participating clubs, unless there is a binding written agreement between the GFF and the Elite League which would state otherwise – to the best of our knowledge, however, such an agreement does not exist.”
Both CONCACAF and FIFA endorsed the fact that the GFF acted within its constitutional mandate as Guyana’s football governing authority to extend the Elite League. Not to be outdone, however, the disaffected teams through their member associations sought the intervention of the GFF Disciplinary Committee. In April 2017 the said Disciplinary Committee determined that, “The constitution can only be amended by the Congress and the Executive Committee has no authority to unilaterally amend the constitution in any manner whatsoever. The amendment to increase the Elite League from eight members to 10 members was ultra vires the powers of the Executive Committee and is unlawful.”
Under the headline Orders for Disposal of Matter, the document said, “1. The complaint by the Elite League Clubs is upheld, 2. The Amendment to the Elite League Rules and Regulations by the Executive Committee is ultra vires and declared unlawful, 3. It is declared that there are eight Elite League Members as listed in Clause 10 of the constitution and any change/amendment to Clause 10 of the constitution must be made by the Congress.” Further the Disciplinary Committee determined that an expansion of the Elite League from 8 to 10 teams required an amendment to the GFF constitution. This is equivalent to saying that each time FIFA, CONCACAF or another FIFA Regional Member Association wants to extend a tournament a constitutional change is required, and further, such extension must be approved by some configuration of existing tournament clubs.
In May 2017 FIFA provided a detailed letter to the GFF and Disciplinary Committee stating that essentially the committee’s decision is non-binding because its mandate does not give it the authority to rule against the GFF on the matter of league expansion, only matters concerning discipline. Further FIFA reiterated that based on the GFF constitution, the GFF Executive Committee acted within its authority to extend the Elite League.
The detailed letter noted that the actions and decisions of the Disciplinary Committee are null, void and non-binding. It went on to mention that not only did the committee operate outside its jurisdiction and authority, it did so in the absence of provisions guiding, among other things, the separation of powers and distinct membership for the Disciplinary and Appeals Committee. The current GFF Constitution was adopted only in 2015.
Finally, the four clubs that chose not to participate in the 2016-17 Elite League abstained from the recently concluded GFF Congress in May 2017. Of the 22 Congress members, a total of 5 abstained. The overwhelming majority of members support the development path, current results and vision of football led by the current GFF administration. In another twist to this saga a reporter showed the GFF President a court order allegedly serving an injunction disallowing the GFF from holding its statutory congress. Guyana is a small place, as we say, and our elders would often say that actions speak louder than words. Readers will be able to judge for themselves the individuals attempting to destabilize local football because they seek the power, prestige and access to financial resources. We have seen where this kind of behaviour took us previously, resulting in an almost total collapse of a local football programme and disaffiliation by FFIA.
Innately our players, communities, families and all those involved directly and indirectly with football in Guyana know what is right. Sadly some players especially, knowingly and unknowingly have been sucked into the negative ambitions of dark figures that seek to slow football’s development and gain access to the resources which ultimately are directed for football development, not personal gain.
We are on the cusp of a magnificent transformation in local football that will raise the bar in terms of football management and administration and on-field performance. This transformation has already begun to provide our young players with more playing, training and personal development opportunities through the Academy Training Centres, an expanded and revamped technical department with officers assigned to each member association, additional youth leagues, Women’s Development League and grassroots football development, to name a few programmes.
Mike Archer

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