By Donald Duff
Embattled president of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Colin Klass was yesterday asked to resign by a member of the GFF’s general council.
The move was made by president of the Fruta Conquerors Football Club, Marlon Cole.
Cole is also secretary of the Georgetown Football Association.
In advising Klass of the need to tender his resignation Cole said that he wanted Klass to tender his resignation “in the interest of the game and for the love of it.”
“As an administrator I am compelled to posit this advice because I prefer to live with a clean conscience,” Cole said in an e-mail to Klass and copied to Stabroek Sport.
Stating that his confidence was gone Cole said Klass had failed to properly account for gate receipts for the Guyana versus Suriname World Cup match at the National Stadium and had failed to implement the Goal Project after six years.
He also blamed the GFF boss for failing to promote football according to the 2007/2008 schedule and also for failing to properly prepare for and host the upcoming Digicel Caribbean Cup.
The failures of the U-20, U-23 and senior national team in advancing in regional competitions were also laid squarely at the feet of the diminutive but dapper Klass.
Meanwhile, former general secretary of the GFF, George Rutherford in an e-mail to Cole warned the GFF executive to proceed with caution.
“May I say as a word of caution and advice that a former member of the GFA’s executive had externalized local football administration grievances matters (which have solution strategies articulated in the GFF’s constitution) and was sanctioned for so doing. May I suggest that as a member of the GFF’s general council you utilize the avenues available to you to achieve the purpose you seek,” Rutherford wrote.
The Digicel Caribbean Cup football tournament is set to kick off Wednesday and the GFF has been criticized for not making proper arrangements for the staging of the matches and for the national team’s practice.
The national team has not been able to have any turf practice because of the current inclement weather and the fact that the GFF does not have a ground or football facility of its own.
Additionally, some members of the Golden Jaguars, as the national team is known, were in Trinidad playing in the semi-professional leagues there.
According to FIFA stipulations, Clubs are only allowed to release players for national duty five days before a major tournament, a GFF official told Stabroek Sport.
