Juman-Yassin affirms reelection bid, BLUNTY REFUSES TO JUSTIFY

Aug 21, 2021 Sports

By Calvin Chapman

Kaieteur News – The Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) held a press conference yesterday at their Lilliendaal Headquarters in which the press was asked to make a special effort to attend. The presser which was scheduled at 13:30hrs began at 14:00hrs and it was majorly a waste of time.

K.A. Juman-Yassin

Information that was shared in the various forms of local media was elaborately rehashed in what would’ve been more useful as a report to the executive of our local National Olympic Committee (NOC) by the travelling team.
However, it was useful and well received when the President, K.A. Juman-Yassin, noted that the GOA will be setting up an independent committee that will examine the performances of eight-odd coaches that are currently benefiting from stipend through the Panam coaches’ development programme. Yassin noted that the committee will be made up of three persons, one from the media and two independent parties that aren’t affiliated with the media or the Executive of the GOA.
The committee will also examine the performances of athletes on the Olympic Solidarity fund, determine and/ development a ranking system then make recommendations as to who should continue to receive such funding. However, the GOA will still make the final reserves on who will be recipients of the coaches’ stipend and the solidarity funding.
As the media respectfully endured elongated presentations, a question was raised that placed the incumbent head of the GOA on the defensive.
Juman-Yassin, after reaffirming he will be running for another term as head of the GOA to extend his tenure closer to three decades, was then quizzed as to why he would want to return to the helm of the association but he adamantly refused to answer the question, stating that it wasn’t the time to ask such a question.
In the same way that under-funded and dedicated athletes, and coaches will be placed under the microscope by the proposed committee to determine whether they should be recommended to remain on programmes, would the GOA have a pass grade after failing to produce any Olympic medals under the tenure of K.A. Juman-Yassin?
The GOA is due to have elections very soon. During the last elections in 2016, several motions were raised by the Guyana Squash Association (GSA) and passed during that Annual General Meeting (AGM) and Elections, and the one that sticks out is the motion to limit the reign of any GOA head to three-terms.
Local sports journalist and radio personality, Rawle Toney, in an invited comment on the incident at the GOA yesterday, noted that, “Mr. Yassin is open to scrutiny since he is at the helm of the GOA. If we take a look at GOA and ask what they have done under Mr. Yassin’s tenure, and examine the condition it is in and the amount of athletes that would’ve fallen by the wayside due to no support, it will beg the question why he wants to return as President.”
Guyana and the media await the response from the long-serving and respected Sport Administrator.

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