GFF presidential hopeful Odinga Lumumba again bemoaned poor football standard in Guyana, while also outlining his vision for a complete turnaround for the sport if elected on May 27 to succeed current president Colin Klass.
Lumumba, speaking to media workers at a press conference at the Water Chris Hotel yesterday, said that he accepted the Georgetown Football Association (GFA) nomination to challenge Klass at the GFF elections because he thinks there is a need for change in administration of local football. The president of the Alpha ‘The Hammer’ United also indicated that there are no hidden agendas or vendetta against Klass since his aim “is for the betterment of Football in Guyana.
“I think there needs a change in football; I don’t want to get personal so as far as I am concerned my decision is to bring betterment to football. So it is not Lumumba versus Klass, it is about change.
“I am dealing with the fact that for 20-30 years football hasn’t gone anywhere in comparison to the Caribbean and the world and personally if I am in a position or in charge of anything and after 10 or 15 years there is no basic change or there is no dramatic change I would step down. I would get other people to take the helm,” Lumumba, who is also Presidential Adviser, explained.
Speaking candidly Lumumba emphasised that local football has been poor, starting at the level of the national team and trickling down to the locally organised tournaments. He highlighted that apart from Georgetown, and a lesser extent Linden, there is not much competitive football being played in the country.
He noted that this is a “failure” that has been perpetuated under the Klass administration, with Klass heading football since 1989. Additionally, Lumumba also lamented the state of youth and female football, saying that that for female football there is no proper structure to move this aspect of the sport forward although it was reflected in the GFF annual report that US$78,500 (US$37,500-2009) went towards women’s football.
It was also noted in that report that US$22,500 (US$31,063-2009) went towards youth football.
“We talk a lot about the ladies football and the Lady Jags but 90% of the Ladies Jags (Jaguars) were people from overseas. There is no consistent and strong programme for women in our country. There is also some youth football but then again there is not much youth football being played in this country,” Lumumba stressed.
According to Lumumba, he would also cut the administration cost for football, citing that he would plough half of that money back into the development of the sport. In last year’s report it showed that the GFF expended US$102,500 (US$105,000-2009) for planning and administration.
To counter these supposed ill advised decisions under the Klass administration, Lumumba proposes that he will first “energise” the associations. This will be done according to Lumumba, by raising G$7M for the next three years for each association that wants to be involved in competitive football.
“That money will go towards youth football, which is under-16 and below, female football and a premier league tournament in every division. “Secondly, I believe the key to football development is what inspires the world: employment and economics, it is about business. We must have a business entity in football and we must give a young man hope because when a young footballer plays football he must believe that he is playing to provide for his family and he is playing for a career.”
Lumumba continued: “To have a career in football you must have a professional league. If you don’t have a professional league you will never have your best athletes. The guy has to have a job, his training is 4’o clock, he works at Banks (DIH), he has to make a decision between his regular job and playing football without an income.”
Lumumba proposes that if he is elected his administration will provide employment for 500 persons which would include clubs having 25-30 players in their roster, referees and other personnel. He believes that football should be approached from the position it is viewed worldwide and around the Caribbean.
“What happens in Guyana: we have our good football players and he gets a call from Trinidad or Barbados or Jamaica or from somewhere else and he is gone; his club collapses and then there is no development. No money comes back from that club but if you have a professional league you can pay these players and you have a contract with them and if somebody wants them they have to pay the club and the club can then develop other players and their youth programmes,” Lumumba emphasised.
Apart from that, Lumumba said that he will be marketing football as a product to corporate Guyana and the government as other countries right in the region have done. With this also Lumumba stated that there will always be a competent pool of players to choose from all levels, especially at the nursery level.
“I believe that youth football can only develop if we have a comprehensive programme with the Ministry of Education (MoE). The GFF must go in partnership with the MoE and we must begin to work with the private schools and all the government schools so that we can identify talent from the coaches’ positions and we must ask the government to be a partner.
