Here’s a riddle for readers! What do Guyana Football Federation President (on protracted suspension) Colin Klass and ex-President Jagdeo have in common. ANSWER. Both men have managed to maintain a conspicuous silence since their disappearance from office though it is rumoured that both men continue to play the role of Puppet Master in the GFF and the political administration, respectively.
The latest news on Klass is that he still has ambitions as a football administrator and that he is counting the days till the end of his two-year ban by FIFA. What is happening in the meantime? That’s another story. The official position is that the Federation’s new Top Man (acting) is VP Frankie Wilson. The word out there is that Frankie is merely minding the store for Colin until that ban expires and that the real power behind the throne is the GFF’s Deputy General Secretary and Klass confidante George Rutherford. Nothing, it seems, happens without Rutherford’s say-so and GFF insiders say that Klass continues to keep tabs on what goes on inside the Secretariat.
It’s not easy though. In Klass’ absence all hell appears to have broken loose. It appears that a plot is afoot to dethrone Klass in absentia except that the plot is being held up by the Federation’s troubles with the Georgetown Football Association. On the surface it appears to be a matter of the GFA’S voting rights as an affiliate of the GFF. The bottom line, however, has to do with a power struggle………..between Klass and presidential adviser Lumumba we are told. The GFF has gone to court over the matter and everything, it appears, has come to a grinding halt.
Of course, the real truth about local football is that it is currently in the throes of a power struggle among men who have more AMBITION than APTITUDE for running the game. They have figured out that running the GFF, particularly, has a lot of fringe benefits including a hefty FIFA subvention. There are trips too….lots of them…….. to Zurich and to the various World Cup matches.
This year might have been a good one for The Golden Jaguars but it was a disaster for football administration. Klass became a victim of the Bin Hamman cash-for-votes scandal; the GFF and the GFA squared off publicly and Banks DIH and the GFA put together a tournament that literally took the wind out of the sail of the twenty-two year-old Kashif & Shanghai Tournament. Mind you the Kashif & Shanghai Tournament also found itself in a spot of political bother that led to what appears to have been a boycott of at least some of the games. Luckily for them it seems like their big backers like ANSA Mc Al and GT&T kept faith with them…..otherwise where would they have gotten all those promised millions in gold and cash?
Those of us who love football for its own sake are often oblivious to the behind-the-scenes intrigue that characterizes the running of the game. The truth is that the players who entertain us with their skills and the coaches who work with them get little from the game. It is the Presidents/Owners of the clubs who run things. They determine who gets what. There are stories of ugly confrontations between players and club officials over monies. The same thing, it seems, has occurred with The Golden Jaguars and the Football Federation. The rows have been known to extend to issues like training conditions, the quality of the players’ meals and the quality of their accommodation when they are encamped.
WHY ISN’T THERE A PLAYERS ASSOCIATION FOR FOOTBALLERS? For a start, most of the players do not appear to be sufficiently savvy about protecting their interests. They play the game for the sheer love of it and appear to rely on those who run the game to look out for them. This is simply not on the cards. Most of our football executives are less than fit, middle-aged men some of whom are only now learning to distinguish between a football and a volleyball. Most of them, it seems, are in it for what they can get out of it.
THE GFF ITSELF IS IN A CONDITION OF NEAR RUIN! It is broke, near leaderless and appears to have no structured programme to take the game forward. Its power reposes in its immunity from government intervention though it has to be said that the government itself remains indifferent to the problems of the game. When one thinks of the GFF one calls to mind the fable of THE EMPEROR’S NEW CLOTHES. No one except the Federation takes it seriously.
