Forde challenges those who question progress made by Federation

Sep 24, 2017 Sports

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President of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Wayne Forde in an exclusive interview questioned the correctness of those who are seeking to challenge the progress made by the current administration over its almost two years in office.
Forde, who took the reins of power following the termination of the Clinton Urling-led Normalisation Committee which was installed on the instruction of the World Governing Body FIFA, sought to clear the air during an interview on Friday, at the Federation’s Head Office at Dadanawa Street, Section ‘K’, Campbellville.
The GFF President in opening the conversation quickly pointed to the disruption of funding due to recommendations that came out of an audit investigation conducted by Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) specifically related to the 11-month period of the NC’s tenure.
According to Forde, the audit identified a number of ‘Red Flags’ forcing FIFA to place Guyana under conditional funding thereby creating limited access to developmental funding, a situation that did not totally stymie the development of the sport here, but severely affected the Federation’s ability to offer much needed support to Member Associations (MAs) for them to execute their respective programmes.
However, according to Forde, despite the scarcity of funding, the Federation has been able to achieve a lot, contrary to what is being propagated in some circles.
Among the highlights he said were the participation of teams at every level including the Olympic qualifiers for the senior team (Lady Jaguars), U17 (Boys) Caribbean championship, U-15 (Boys) French Guiana Invitational six nation tournament, U-17 (Boys) Martinique invitational six Nation tournament, where Guyana achieved a historic win over Haiti, a feat that was achieved for the first time in our history, CONCACAF U-15 (Boy) in Florida, nationwide female development League, inking (5) years Sponsorship deal with NAMILCO and the Pele Alumni organization, for the Nationwide U17 and U15 Boys Intra-Association tournament respectively, where funding and equipment were provided to every Association, the current preparation of a fine selection of U-13 (Boys) that will lead the FIFA 2026 world Cup Campaign, playing International friendlies within the FIFA windows against Canada, Suriname and Martinique, the setting up of 13 Academies nationwide, 30 paid coaches on the Federation’s payroll as irrefutable testimony to the institution’s achievements over its two-year reign.
He also highlighted the setting up of lighting systems at the Buxton Community Centre ground and a similar intention for Bartica as the Federation’s resoluteness in accomplishing many of the objectives they campaigned on prior to being voted into office.
“We are determined to meet those goals that we promised to achieve during the run up to elections and despite a few unhelpful developments we remain positive that most of them will be attained,” Forde said.
He conceded that football development has still not reached its full potential, but refuted claims by some that nothing has been done, instead firing back by stating that football development has improved.
“We are hoping to restructure our finance operations and this is aimed at being in a better position to offer more to our MAs so that their programmes could be executed in an efficient manner, while also positioning the Federation to resume access of the FAP funding.”
The GFF Head added that while it may seem that the current emphasis is on the development of local players, they remain open to overseas-based players being an integral part of the continued development of the sport.
Quizzed on the delay in the realization of the FIFA Forward Project which is to be located at Providence, East Bank Demerara, Forde disclosed that the Lease was the cause of the delay, but confirmed that the issue has now been resolved and the way cleared for construction of Guyana’s first football home which will commence in a matter of days.
He also spoke of a Plan being developed to have national players offered one year Professional contracts with the Federation, but cautioned that the proposal will have conditions attached to it such as drug testing and any other Football activity that may be injurious to a player’s health.
According to him, the aim is to develop a professional culture so that Guyana’s football could experience further development and in so doing open the doors for our players to be scouted by some of the top clubs.
He touched on the slothful performance of some MAs in getting their programmes up and running and in some instances completed; informing that he was a bit disappointed. “Some members have simply neglected their responsibility to their members by failing to organize football within their jurisdiction.”
Forde pointed to the GFF projection of early 2018 as being the guiding light to reflect on the accomplishments of the preceding years.
He closed by calling on all stakeholders to get on board the development train and put football first.

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