By Clinton Urling
Something is wrong with the way our sporting organisations operate and function. Nowhere is this more evident than with the shameful situation being played out with the Demerara Cricket Board (DCB). Accusa-tions and injunctions from DCB leading officials are being bowled more than cricket competitions. This follows on the heels of the gruesome acid attack last year on Mr. Pretipaul Jaigobin, then assistant treasurer of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB). Subsequent to that, this newspaper reported on June 26, 2010 that GCB members believed the treasurer should stand down because of financial irregularities and failure to submit reports for projects executed on behalf of the organisation.
Similarly, in the basketball fraternity, it was reported on February 17, 2011 that Trevor Rose, former president of the Georgetown Amateur Basketball Associa-tion (GABA) admitted that no financial statement for the organisation was ever produced during his one-year term as president. Indeed, this is a sterling indictment on the GABA and Rose himself.
Another relatively recent incident that comes to mind was the embarrassing situation involving players of the Golden Jaguars national football team who had called for the resignation of the Guyana Football Federa-tion’s (GFF) President after making accusations of poor training standards, inadequate training equipment, the inferior state of encampment while overseas, money owed to players and consistent disorganisation during international tours. This was followed by an urgent call for accountability and resignation of the organisation’s head by Donald Duff, Stabroek Sport editor (SN, August 03, 2008).
These incidents are not mere aberrations or outliers in Guyana’s sporting community. While some clubs appear to have their houses in order, these examples clearly show that guarantee cannot be vouched for uniformly in the whole array of sporting organisations.
These irregularities will go unabated and continue because sponsors, especially in the private sector, continue to fund activities and events for these organisations. Why would these organizations work to improve their operations when they have reliable income from sponsors who, in most cases, do not expect nor require any accountability? It is baffling to think about the millions of dollars being spent by some companies to sponsor events for these organisations, knowing that there will be no expectation of a follow-up report accounting for how these donations were allocated and spent. It is inconceivable to think that such blind faith could be extended to a sporting organisation that may already have a history of financial abuse and irregularity.
Similarly, we have some of our media houses abdicating their duties and responsibilities as press watchdogs and failing to investigate and expose some of the irregularities and governance problems facing these organisations. Only in the case of football – and in particular the GFF – has some reasonable attempt been made at investigative journalism. More needs to be done in this area and expanded to all sports associations.
Furthermore, the Ministry of Culture, Youth, and Sport has complained frequently in the past about some clubs not having proper governance and accountability systems in place. The ministry has adopted the position of not funding such associations until shortcomings have been corrected. This position is commendable but the ministry should go even further and commission a study to investigate all sports associations in the country with the aim and intention of assessing the internal structure, governance, capability and effectiveness of each one.
This should be supplemented with a regulatory and ranking system that measures organisational accountability and transparency. In addition, such findings should be made available to the public for review so that potential sponsors and contributors will be able to make better and more informed decisions about whether to support a particular club.
Sports play an important role in the community and when these wrongdoings are left unchecked, the real losers are the athletes involved, the spectators, and the country as a whole. It is time that the private sector demands more accountability and the government initiate a comprehensive review of the ways in which sporting organisations conduct their operations.
