- former GFF president Matthias
composition of the disciplinary committee, one can suddenly realize how and why the disciplinary committee might have arrived at such a ludicrous decision”
According to Matthias, “On the surface it appears to be ludicrous. One only has to return to the constitution of the GFF which was signed onto by the various clubs. The constitution which they didn’t take time to read nor study, the constitution vests the power in the executive committee, the power to make rules, and to change such rules of any tournament.”
“The GFF executive committee in the history of Guyana’s football has never been shackled with the responsibility to consult with the membership in the changing of rules as regard to competitions. If the executive so does, then there are doing it out of mere decency because you can have a conundrum that if the GFF sets the rules for a tournament and half of the participating clubs do not agree with the rules and the other half does, what will happen to football?” he added.
Meanwhile, according to a source close to the GFF, “The GFF doesn’t recognize the decision, they have no authority to rule.” According to leaked documents, the disciplinary committee which is headed by attorneyat-law Sanjeev Datadin and includes Dr. Clement McEwan and Natasha Vieira, ruled on April 14th, “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.”
Four clubs, Alpha United, Slingerz, Georgetown Football Club and Pele boycotted the second GFF Elite League tournament over the question whether the GFF had the right to decide the composition of the tournament. They subsequently filed a complaint on December 3rd, 2016 against the federation to the Disciplinary Committee.
However this ruling is in direct opposition to what CONCACAF Secretary General Philippe Moggio and his FIFA counterpart Fatma Samoura have stated in official correspondence.
Moggio, on November 9th, 2016 declared, “According to art. 36 par. 2-i) of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Constitution, the GFF Executive Committee has the authority (and obligation) to ‘draw up regulations governing the conditions of participation and staging of competitions organized by the Federation’. The correspondence further states that, “this shall not affect the composition of the Congress.”
Moggio added, “Based on the authority granted by the cited article, the GFF Executive Committee is to issue the GFF Elite League Regulations (and of any other Competition organized by the GFF). It must be specified that although the GFF Executive Committee may consult its stakeholders with respect to the content of the Regulations, such Regulations are to be issued on the sole authority of the Committee and based on the powers conferred by the GFF Constitution. In this respect, the