George Rutherford has been relieved of his duties as deputy general secretary of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF).
Rutherford who served the GFF for over two decades first as general secretary and then as deputy general secretary was informed by way of letter yesterday that his services were no longer required.
In his termination letter, a copy of which was seen by this newspaper,
President of the GFF Christopher Matthias stated that he had lost confidence in Rutherford and in his ability to make a meaningful contribution to football in Guyana.
Matthias in the letter also stated that despite having a contract with the GFF, Rutherford was in fact occupying an office which was not specifically provided for in the GFF constitution.
“As you are aware, you purport to hold an office not specifically provided for in the Constituition of the Guyana Football federation and you purport also to discharge functions of that office,” the letter stated.
Matthias said that he had lost confidence in Rutherford owing to a letter written by the former deputy general secretary on April 14, 2009, to Matthias who was then secretary of the Georgetown Football Association (GFA).
“The contents of the aforesaid letter were at times most disturbing and resulted in a strange relationship between the Guyana Football federation and its members, to the extent that it brought the administration of football into significant public ridicule and odium, and unprecedented levels of disrepute,” Matthias wrote.
“The damage and embarrassment done to the reputation of Guyana in general and football in particular by your letter, required the intervention and subsequent resolution of the impasse by FIFA and CONCACAF,” Matthias added.
“Thus, it is no surprise that I have come to the conclusion that I have lost confidence in you and your ability to contribute meaningfully to the development of football in Guyana.
“Additionally, for the sake of completeness, I state that your conduct has negatively affected the development and administration of football, and interfered with and stymied the propagation of the sole and only interest of the Guyana Football Federation, which is, the discipline of football” added Matthias.
