Sustained pressure from the Georgetown Football Association and Guyana Football Referee Council has resulted in the postponement of the GFF elections and Congress that were scheduled for today.
The new date for the elections has been fixed for May 27 after the GFF had earlier accepted that it had breached Article 25 (2), (3) of the Constitution.
It is understood now that the entire process will start afresh with the GFF giving its affiliate members the requisite six-week notice in writing of the venue and date of the Congress and Elections.
With this new development it is likely that Colin Klass, president since 1989, will be challenged for the position especially with the Georgetown Football Association (GFA) and Upper Demerara Football Association (UDFA) set to have their full constitutional rights restored after the presentation of documents to the GFF. Associations will also have another opportunity to submit nominations for the positions of President, Second Vice-President and Assistant Secretary-Treasurer.
Stabroek Sport had reported that the GFA had submitted its constitution, audited financial report for 2010, list of executive members, list of registered players, bank statement, calendar of events for 2011 and the Minutes of the last Annual General Meeting to the executive committee of the GFF. It is not yet known whether this was done by the UDFA but the body had promised that this would have been done after a secret meeting Klass and representatives of the two bodies had last Saturday at the Pegasus Hotel.
Previously, with the way things were set up Klass would have been returning to the position unopposed with Bartica, West Coast Demerara, East Bank Demerara, East Coast Demerara, Berbice, the Women’s arm and the Referees Council having voting rights. GFA, UDFA and the Guyana Football Coaches Association (GFCA), bodies that have strongly opposed the Klass administration, were without voting rights.
However, the GFA cited the breach of the umbrella body’s Constitution and this has many football officials thinking that this will be a major opportunity to unseat Klass.
General Secretary of the GFF Noel Adonis told Stabroek Sport in a brief comment that after reviewing the situation it was the wise thing to do to push back the elections. He noted that there was no point in making the breach by the GFF Executive Committee a “point of contention anymore” especially since there was an admission.
Meanwhile, Stabroek Sport also learnt from an informed source that a letter is being drafted to be sent to the Registrar of Friendly Societies to facilitate an audit and probe into the finances of the GFF. If this is done the GFF will follow in the footsteps of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB), which was subjected to a forensic audit by the Friendly Societies after accusations surfaced of grave financial improprieties.
Many football officials believe that much has not been done for football development in Guyana, especially with the national body receiving US$250,000 annually since 1998.
Meanwhile, an official said yesterday that the development over the past few weeks should be seen as a fillip that can give football in Guyana the boost that it was “sadly lacking” under Klass.
