Odinga Lumumba, president of Guyana’s number one team Alpha ‘The Hammer’ United, has gotten the nod from the Georgetown Football Association’s (GFA) constituents to challenge president of the GFF Colin Klass at the upcoming elections on May 27.
Additionally, the General Council of the GFA formally submitted to the GFF yesterday the names of Dr. Joseph Haynes and Lawrence Griffith to challenge for the two other positions to be contested at the elections.
Haynes will seek to hold the office of Second Vice President, which is currently held by the outgoing Franklin Wilson, and Griffith will be vying for the position of Assistant Secretary-Treasurer.
According to Secretary of the GFA, Christopher Matthias four officials were nominated to challenge Klass.
However, current president of the GFA Vernon Burnett declined nomination, Colonel Bruce Lovell received one vote, Matthias got one and Lumumba received eight votes.
The meeting of the GFA General Council was held on Wednesday evening at the Sleep-In Hotel, Brickdam, and 12 clubs were represented.
Santos, Pele, Alpha United, Riddim Squad, Camptown, Beacon, Guyana Defence Force, Houston Stars, Black Pearl, Northern Rangers, BK International Western Tigers and Fruta Conquerors were the clubs represented, according Matthias.
Matthias also disclosed that at the meeting Haynes, the president of the Upper Demerara Football Association (UDFA), and president of the Guyana Football Referees Council (GFRC) had initially been locked with the same number of votes. However, in the second round of voting Haynes came out with one point more than King, who is also the Permanent Secretary within the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport.
It was noted that Griffith was a unanimous choice because of the work he does as Chairman of the Competitions Committee in the GFF.
Meanwhile, Stabroek Sport learnt that Lumumba is currently working on a plan to outline his vision for the forward movement of the game. A source said it will be a comprehensive report that will deal with every aspect of the sport that he believes had been neglected by Klass, who has held the office since 1989.
When Stabroek Sport spoke to Lumumba he said that he will not be revealing much on the document until it is fully completed.
Other sources stated yesterday that this is the first set of positive news emanating from the football fraternity administratively. They believe that this move by the GFA gives hope for a new dawn after football development was kept so long in the dark under Klass. They lauded the early and constant pressure of the GFA to hold Klass and his executive accountable to the Constitution that was breached and the fact that the GFA and UDFA would not have been able to vote on April 30 had the elections taken place.
Previously, officials of the GFA and other stakeholders had questioned the veil of secrecy surrounding the submission of nominations by the GFF that would have led to two of the major associations not being able to cast a vote. Therefore, Klass would have been returning to the position for another term unopposed.
However, subsequently the GFA had pinned the GFF to admitting a breach and the entire process was redone and the GFA and UDFA were promised voting rights if they presented certain relevant documents. These documents were presented to the GFF earlier this month but it is not yet known what the decision will be when the GFF General Council meets before the elections on May 27.
This apart, some believe that the constitutional rights will be restored and there will be a fair chance of a challenge to the power Klass has held on to for 24 years.
