If former Golden Jaguars captain Chris Nurse is to be believed the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) is guilty of talking the talk but not walking the walk.
According to Nurse, Guyana’s footballers have the talent to do this country proud but the administrators of the sport are inept.
“Football development has stagnated and this falls squarely on the shoulders of the federation who is tasked with the administration of the sport,” says Nurse.
“Structures for incremental development are nonexistent with principles clearly illustrating a designation for failure,” he added.
Nurse said that the GFF top brass is saying all the right things.
“Saying the right things but not taking the correct steps is simply ludicrous. Competing for success while not providing the necessary structures for this to become achievable, is a pipe dream,” he added.
Nurse, who has called for there to be changes in the administration of football locally, said that he chose to speak out because of the years of non development of football and said local football officials appear only to be “going through the motions.
“When it comes to football management and its intricacies they are simply incompetent. They are not leaders and champions of the sport; they lack the vision and foresight to nurture the sport and preside over its development,” he opined.
Nurse is calling for new blood in the drive to take Guyana’s football to the next level.
“Administratively new blood is desperately needed. Radical ideas from people of qualified acumen, not the constant bloviating that seems to be the modus operandi of the organization,” he added.
Nurse said that the national team’s progress in this year’s World Cup Qualifiers was severely hindered due to the ineptitude and questionable management skills of the GFF officials.
“Constant resistance and unnecessary obstacles were continually placed in the path of the team. Unacceptable decisions became a norm and always seemed to occur days if not hours before competitive fixtures which consistently hampered preparations and affected the players’ state of mind,” he said.
According to Nurse, he wants to change the public’s perception of the team adding that the federation is poisoning the population’s mind by trying to insinuate that the current impasse is financially motivated.
“The issue is certainly not financially motivated; it’s about the lack of development in the sport and the questionable administration they exhibit on a continuous basis. It is about financial clarity and transparency and the reasons why players are not benefitting from the team’s historic success. We are not motivated by something as ugly as greed; we simply believe it’s time for change. It’s appalling that we play for nationalistic pride only to be undervalued and unappreciated by our own federation whose sole purpose it seems is to use the sport to benefit themselves,” he said.
