Local football referees call for removal of Head Referee

Seventeen referees signed a letter on February 2nd 2018 calling for the removal of Stanley Lancaster, Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Head of Referees Department, alleging unprofessionalism and incompetence among other issues.

Stabroek Sport contacted Lancaster for comment yesterday on the letter. He said: “I have not received the letter and I can’t comment on it. I know of the letter, but I have never received it.”

Stabroek Sport also contacted Dion Innis, President of the Guyana Football Referees Council (GFRC), who the letter was addressed to but he stated, “I have not received a letter, I get several letters, but I prefer to see it before I make a comment on it.”

GFRC Vice-President Carlos Bernard, one of the persons to whom the letter was copied, also told Stabroek Sport he had not received the letter, declaring, “I have not received such a letter.

GFF 1st Vice-President Bruce Lovell, when asked if the GFF is in possession of the aforementioned letter during a brief comment yesterday said, “I am now hearing about it. This is the first time hearing about it, and I know of no investigation.”

Amongst the criticisms levelled against Lancaster in the letter were victimization, withholding of information and a general dereliction of his duties.

Under the sub-heading Incompetence, the letter which is titled ‘Removal of Head of Referees’, said “Despite several meetings where we expressed our disgust in his lack of communication within the fraternity nothing has changed. We have also discussed with him the need for his input in the technical and theoretical aspects of training but nothing was done. In 2017, one classroom session was organized. This is certainly not acceptable since FIFA Referees need to be evaluated and reports sent to CONCACAF like the FIFA Fitness Test reports. We took it upon ourselves to organize a classroom session in preparation for the Referees Assessment Programme (RAP) course without the assistance of the Head of Referees.”

“His record keeping is poor. Some referees are still waiting to receive their payments/match fees since there are no records of appointments. We do not feel well represented when tournaments are being held as too many complaints are filed against the organizers who do not meet the basic and mandatory obligations in accordance with the laws of the game and other important matters. There are referees who are not registered with the Referees Council, but are active and paying subscription fees.”

Other complaints were also raised in the letter.