Letter to the Sports Editor State of Football in Guyana

Nov 09, 2019 Sports

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Dear Sir,

It is with continued disgust and a sense of betrayal that I pen this letter to you once again. With a snap election called by Mr. Forde for the 9thNovember where the few legal members of the GFF were not given adequate opportunity and time to put forward more suitable candidates to form the new executive, I shudder to think what will the future of football and our youths be in Guyana.
In the history of the GFF there has never been a snap election under the umbrella of an Extraordinary Congress. Ordinary Congresses were the forum even at FIFA etc. for an AGM. The Ordinary provides for fairness with advance notice so that the best persons can be nominated and elected for the Good of the Game. Fear, incompetence and power grabbing seems to be evident in this move. No self-confidence, no integrity, no fair play and no gentlemanly conduct to name a few. An Extraordinary Congress is normally held to address issues which are outside the normal constitutional mode, emergency and or extraordinary in nature. None of which is consistent with this snap November 9, 2019 election among others.
Clearly under Mr. Forde leadership, football is at its worst ever in Guyana. The last public utterance made by him in the News was so loaded with lies that this guy’s integrity leaves much to be desired. It seems to me that this is a direct mirror of The US President, Lies seems to be the only form of truth he speaks.
Guyana Football fraternity and I have been asking for the past year about the monies sent to the GFF for referees. To date the referees have not benefitted from it in any form or fashion. Mr. Forde where is the US$50,000 plus. Because of your mismanagement of our football and the referees, we are in a state of disrepair. It is no longer a pride to be a referee but instead the disrespect and mistreatment have caused many to leave the fraternity. The best have left and as such management of the game is at its worse.
Let me highlight some of your lies recently for Guyana:
President Forde borrowed monies from the referees in order to offset Gold Cup expenses.
The referees who officiated at the Linden end of year tournament have not been paid to date. Additionally the following monies are outstanding for other tournaments.
1. Mayor’s Cup 2016
2. Port Kaituma Cup
3. Bartica League and KO
4. Elite League
5. Futsal Tournament
6. GFA League
7. East Bank League
8. West Demerara League
9. Buxton Inter Village
10. Caribbean Shield Cup
11. Referees Committee stipend
12. And it goes on.
I have attached a copy of a letter send by the President of the GFF to Mr. Brian Hall, Director of Refereeing, CONCACAF, where he seeks to confirm his destruction of the careers of three of our best referees without due process. The Referees are Mr. Sherwin Moore, Mr. Venton Mars and Mr. Trevor Porter.
Evidence of further attempts to destroy the Referees Association is the fact that, of the Five (5) FIFA officials in Guyana, Three was suspended by Mr. Forde indefinitely since December 2018 without due process. These three officials were suspended by Mr. Forde and supported by his executives, however according to Article 14 (Suspension) a provisional suspension by the executive committee shall only last for a period of not exceeding six (6) months, which time the disciplinary committee or congress meet, failing to the suspension ends immediately, but yet still these three Referees are still serving an unknown period of suspension. This in itself is vindictive and abuse of authority (power). To date these Referees remained suspended without any hearing and appointments for these officials are being returned by Forde and the GFF based on the attachment letter sent to Concacaf Refereeing Department.
The financial statement seems to suggest that the GFF is bankrupt with a large list of creditors etc. Are these accounts audited, don’t the Auditors ask questions regarding use of funds based on FIFA circular etc.
Also what is the position with the Administrator for Referees, since the unceremonious departure of Mr. Lancaster? After, a cowboy enquiry it was taken to dismiss Mr. Lancaster. Where is the evidence to justify their conclusion? I am still waiting your response regarding Lancaster unceremonious departure.
If this is not enough, most of the Association and Affiliates are either underperforming or not performing at all, no structures and very, very poor and ineffective administrators. A few teams comprise the Association, no meeting during the year and little or no football in the Association. In some cases there are no minutes of the few get together which are held from time to time. Could Mr. Forde show us any real evidence of players, referees, administrators, club structure, Coaches and any other development for the past four years with all the monies received from FIFA? Winning a few matches with non locals is not development. What is the vision for the Likes of France and Dover…?
Please Sir Leave before it is too late, now is the time.
FOR THE GOOD OF THE GAME AND FAIR PLAY IN GUYANA
Respectfully,
Thomas Bowen
Businessman / former footballer.

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