Football administrators have taken lots of flak over the state of the sport locally over the years but recently there has been an upsurge in the number of competitions staged and an overall increase in sponsorship.

But will the injection of funding create a situation that could harm the further development of the sport?

Recent developments suggest this could be so as an off-field saga between the players and executives of BK International Western Tigers Football Club seem set to diminish recent success gained by the team which won the 20th staging of the annual Kashif and Shanghai football tournament.

The upward movement of the sport has seen players securing opportunities to play professionally in neighbouring Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago and even further afield in North America and Europe.

Only two years ago Guyana was ranked 100th in FIFA’s world rating, the best even showing by this country and last year the Confederation of North, Central and Caribbean Football (CONCACAF) and FIFA made available a substantial package to Guyana to stage a national club league which was successfully completed in the latter part of 2009.

Women’s football also seems heading for its fair share of success with the inclusion of players from the United States born of Guyanese parentage who have shown an interest in representing their adopted home in the future.

Last year could be regarded as one of the busiest years for football locally with most sub-associations staging tournaments.

The Kashif and Shanghai Christmas extravaganza which completed 20 years continues to draw the largest crowds to any sporting event locally and, the recent visit of international football icon `King’ Pele, who came to Guyana as a guest of the K&S organisation, added a new dimension to the sport.

Corporate support for the K&S tournament has always been overwhelming to the extent that every business wants to be a part of the event.

Those are some of the positives but there are also negative developments that require urgent intervention.

The first is violence at football matches which, in one case, left a club official injured and a court battle brewing.

Security at football venues locally has been lacking over the years to the extent that some venues have been overrun by illicit drugs use by spectators.

One can hardly expect these venues not to have spectators who might also be carrying illegal weapons.

The other critical situation is the one recently disclosed by Gordon Gilhuys, president of the newly-crowned Kashif and Shanghai champions Western Tigers.

Gilhuys revealed that the players from Western Tigers were demanding the lion’s share of funds won at tournaments, leaving nothing for the development of the club.
From reports, the executives had offered to disburse monies won by the club on a 60/40 basis with the larger part going to the player, while the remainder was identified to facilitate the future development programmes.

It is quite clear that more financing is being put into the sport but on the other hand if there is no development then clubs would be unable to provide players for the future.

Many of these teams lack proper training facilities, junior development programmes, administrators and the support mechanism that are needed to sustain their growth.

Guidelines must be put in place immediately by the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) in relation to stipends awarded to players both at club and national levels.

Time and again it has been reported that players are at odds with administrators over what they should be receiving financially even when they are called up to perform national duties.

While we agree that the players should be rewarded for their efforts, at the same time it should not be to the detriment of the expansion thrust.

The ball is now in their half of the field.

The players must realize that like good vocalists, they also need supporting musicians and patrons to ensure the success of their acts.

It is a situation they must try to understand.