Says Marlon Munroe
The Lady Jaguars have been warming the hearts of Guyanese with their high level football which qualified them for top international competitions.
They have done what was required of them even if it meant making huge sacrifices such as taking brief sabbaticals from school and college to represent Guyana.
But what is their reward?
The Guyana Football Federation (GFF) has decided to withdraw the national ladies’ team from the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games in Puerto Rico this month because of financial constraints and a lack of assistance from the government and private sector.
The GFF issued a statement saying, “In the absence of funding from the GOA, the Government, and corporate Guyana, the GFF which to date has expended in excess of US$150,000 for the team’s participation in the Gold and World Cup qualification, had to take the decision to withdraw from the Games.
“It is regrettable that when our national representative teams qualify for such high level participation in regional and international tournaments that the support of all sectors and agencies concerned with the promotion and development of sport in Guyana is not readily forthcoming.”
This is a strong statement.
However, it must be viewed in light of the fact that the majority of these girls are coming from Canada and the USA so their travel costs would be considerably reduced compared to the athletes who will be departing directly from Guyana.
The GFF has been tendering the ‘lack of funds’ excuse for too long and this is robbing Guyana of the opportunity to have a team go forward although it has a good chance of making it to the World Cup finals if given the requisite exposure.
Additionally, much sympathy will not come from me since the Director of Sport, Neil Kumar, had previously told this newspaper that the “government will be giving its unflinching support to the associations and the GOA for their presence to be felt in Puerto Rico.”
However, when he was contacted on Tuesday after Stabroek Sport had learnt of the decision by the GFF to withdraw the team from participating at the championships, Kumar hung up the phone without making a comment.
Stabroek Sport had only contacted the Director of Sport to get his reaction to the fact that the team would not be representing Guyana and to enquire about the outcome of his earlier promise. It is not the attitude required from one who holds the office of Director of Sport.
Meanwhile, the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) President K Juman Yassin had stated on several occasions that the GOA had not budgeted for football since it was not known whether the team had qualified for the championships after their second place showing in the first round of the CONCACAF Gold and World Cup qualifiers.
Yassin stating that “it was a different ball game” said he was hoping that the government would have assisted, especially since the GOA had only budgeted $5 million for the associations.
Subsequently judo, weightlifting and other sport associations have scaled down the number of athletes who will participate at the games. So is there still no way that the GOA and the government could assist these ladies who have brought some pride to Guyana in the football arena?
