– Suriname’s First Secretary Charlo Doedel says he is totally in the dark about football arrangements made by the Guyana Football Federation for his country’s national side who are scheduled to arrive in Guyana this morning and has requested help from Director of Sport Neil Kumar
It seems as if the incompetence of the Guyana Football Federation knows no bounds.
On the eve of the start of Group ‘B’ of the Digicel Caribbean Cup football tournament, First Secretary of the Suriname Embassy here, Charlo Doedel, was yesterday in the dark as it related to arrangements for the Surinamese team which is expected in this morning.
“Mr. Klass (Colin) cannot shed some light on our accommodation up to today (yesterday) whilst the general secretary is on his way to Beijing, China and Mr. Hudson has no knowledge on our accommodation,” a frustrated Doedel told Stabroek Sport yesterday.
“They (the GFF) need to know that this is not just about the Digicel tournament or even the World Cup qualifier, but with a broader scope in mind, Carifesta which is just around the corner,” Doedel added.
The First Secretary said when Suriname visited Guyana for their return leg of the 2010 World Cup qualifier last June, the treatment received in terms of accommodation left much to be desired adding that this was second time around for the Surinamese.
“When we hosted Guyana in June for the first leg of our World Cup qualifying encounter, we ensured that the accommodation they received was of a high standard, thus we were anticipating the same on our visit here for the return encounter but sad to say, such was not.”
Stabroek Sports understands that the Suriname Embassy ending up writing the Guyana Embassy on the matter.
Doedel, who ensured he emphasized the good relationship between Guyana and Suriname despite the rivalry with sports, stated that his country’s football federation was not too keen on travelling to Guyana for the Digicel tournament.“Arrangements were not fully met with regards to our accommodation the last time we were here. We ensured that the Guyanese were given top class treatment and when we arrived here hoping to receive the same, we were housed in a claustrophobic environment.
”Even for this Digicel tournament, efforts were made to contact the executives of the Guyana Football Federation including its’ president Colin Klass, general secretary Noel Adonis and even Guyana manager Rawle Hudson which were all in vain,” he added.
Doedel also stated that not only will Suriname be participating in the Digicel tournament and Carifesta, but also has a swimming team in training for a Goodwill games that is slated to take place between the two countries along with Trinidad and Barbados later in the month right here in Guyana and another key issue for the Surinamese officials was security.
“There are some concerns by the officials in Suriname about security to which the GFF have not given any response either.” said Doedel.
However, he was quick to point out that Director of Sport in the National Sports Commission (NSC) Neil Kumar spoke with him and gave him some guarantees for the team’s arrival.
“Mr. Kumar called me this morning (yesterday) and told me that he saw what happened the last time our team was here and does not want a reocurrence of same and to this effect, he has promised to arrange not only accommodation, but also security, transportation and even priority crossing with the ferry at New Amsterdam and Rosignol for the team, to which we are entirely grateful.”
Efforts to contact embattled president of the GFF Colin Klass proved futile, whilst Hudson told Stabroek Sport that his concern lies with the Golden Jaguars which is the name given to the Guyana football team.
Kumar told Stabroek Sport that he would try to assist the Surinamese in the areas of providing an escort, trying to expedite the immigration process and providing priority ferry crossing. The Suriname contingent he said will arrive in a 26-seater bus with an additional 15-seater bus carrying the team’s luggage.
Stabroek Sports understands that Digicel will be sending a representative from Suriname to travel with the team.