We are on the cusp of a transformation in local football

Dear Editor, Guyana’s has a proud football history; ask any of the old players and members for Pele, Santos, Camptown, etc, and they will all tell you how proud and excited they were to play and be a part of football. Today Guyana’s football development is getting back on track; we’ve had visits by none other than the President of FIFA – a first for Guyana ‒ the President of CONCACAF as well as FIFA Development Director, all of whom publicly expressed great confidence in the work of the current GFF administration and the progress of football development over the past 18 months and counting.

In 2012, just 5 years ago FIFA – football’s international governing and highest decision-making body ‒ signalled to Guyana that it was prepared to disaffiliate our football programme due to poor administration, governance, corruption and mismanagement. Save for the actual disaffiliation itself or a temporary ban, this is arguably the most disgraceful situation a FIFA affiliated programme can find itself in. Some of the pitfalls experienced over the 2011-14 period are highlighted below:

1. The GFF President in 2011 was fined and banned for “having breached various articles of the FIFA Code of Ethics” according to FIFA.

2. In 2011 FIFA suspended the then GFF General Secretary for 30 days for what it reported as his involvement in a bribery scandal during a meeting which took place in Trinidad and Tobago.

3. Numerous national players went on strike in 2012, protesting owed wages for matches, continued mismanagement of football development investment resources, corruption and governance of the sport. Things got so bad that from November 2012 to September 2014, Guyana did not play any international matches.

4. In 2012 the rights of Guyana’s home fixture against Mexico were sold; the match venue was moved from Providence on the East Bank to Houston, Texas. The decision to sell our home rights did not go through the proper decision-making protocol, neither is there documentation to show that a vote was taken by the then Executive Committee nor that there were minutes of the meeting. The financial details were not documented and the transactions were not recorded. If this was in the best interest of our players and local football, and was above board why was it shrouded in so much secrecy, and further why are players still owed remuneration? The current GFF administration has launched an investigation, into what might actually result in a criminal investigation, charges being laid and further sanctions being applied to persons who allegedly profited from the sale of the aforementioned fixture.

5. Although FIFA earmarked Guyana for the Goal project in 1999, which if implemented by the then and subsequent GFF administrations would have improved playing and training facilities and realized a modern football stadium for Guyana, this project has never been implemented. It was only in April 2017 that the current GFF administration and President of FIFA, participated in a ceremonial sodturning to signal the commencement of preparation for the new GFF National Training Centre at Providence which is now part of the FIFA Forward project.

Fast forward to October 2014 when FIFA and CONCACAF announced that a Normalisation Committee (NC) would govern Guyana’s football programme until September 2015. The NC’s primary responsibilities were to (1) manage the day-to-day activities of the GFF, (2) adopt a new constitution and (3) lay the groundwork and host elections for a new executive. While the NC successfully completed the foregoing tenure, its work led by its Chairman, who only a few months prior to overseeing the GFF elections publicly declared his allegiance to a national political party and whose name was listed as a member and candidate of said party contesting the national elections, was besmirched by concerns about lack of financial transparency during the NC’s tenure. There were also allegations about questionable commercial contracts and concerns about the Chairman’s neutrality following the institution of last minute requirements for contesting teams and candidates. The latter perception was fuelled by alleged and arguably continued public affiliation to the runner-up faction that contested the 2015 GFF election.

Although football development has seen considerable progress and the encouragement of FIFA over the past 18 months or so, a new controversy has emerged. This time it purportedly has to do with a decision taken by the GFF in 2016 to expand the Elite League from 8 to 10 teams, the two additional teams being Top XX of Linden and Victoria Kings. Coincidentally most of the members of Team Unity that contested the 2015 GFF elections but lost 12-10 to Team Integrity whose elected members comprise the current GFF Executive Committee, have collectively put forward a case that the GFF acted outside its constitutional mandate and infringed on the Elite League original contract signed by the Normalisation Committee.

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 FIFA. 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 who 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. Yours faithfully, Mike Archer