Former Guyana Football League (GFL) Vice President Wayne Forde said that the current discourse that has awakened within the football fraternity can only be good for the sport as it was severely lacking during the Colin Klass era.
Speaking in an exclusive interview, Forde said:”I want to commend the entire football family for the awakening that has occurred in football. The level of activism we are seeing right now can only be good for the sport.
“Despite we might not agree with all the people, the fact that everyone is now coming forward and voicing their dissatisfaction with the manner in which football is being administered at the national and sub-association level, we must acknowledge that this level of openness and frank dialogue was absent during the Colin Klass era. Everyone that contributed to this open process should be applauded,” said Forde.
Questioned about his thoughts on the tabling of a no-confidence motion against the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) President Christopher Matthias, Forde said “I think the reasons are less than sufficient for unseating the President.
“Unless there is absolute evidence of financial impropriety on the part of the GFF president, there is no valid reason to abruptly end his presidency. I believe that we should be patient and allow his term to come to an end.
“I am afraid if we go down this road, history will judge us badly. There are very few good examples for unseating any leader of any organization without any glaring evidence of financial impropriety or other malpractice of similar nature or seriousness,” added Forde.
Questioned about the intentions of the disgruntled associations, Forde said:”I would hope that their intentions are in the best interest of football because I have very little knowledge apart from what their pointing out as the things that they are disgruntled about.
“I am a bit discouraged by the group of persons that are waging this battle because I believe that they are carrying around baggage that far exceeds the weight of the baggage Mathias has accumulated in the year and a few months.
“My word of advice to them is to do some honest introspection and ask themselves if the best interests of football is being served by their undertaking,” said Forde.
Asked if the motion was to succeed, who would be the best individual to fill the void, Forde said: “I don’t want the motion to succeed and I will go further to say it will not succeed. The fact that FIFA brought three representatives to observe the Ordinary Congress of which the motion was moved unsuccessfully, it is clear indication that FIFA like myself is more interested in the development of football and not the nasty politics.
“If by the stroke of bad luck the motion succeeds, I don’t believe that there is anyone among the members of the disgruntled associations that are suitable candidates to lead Guyana football in the 21st century.
“Many of them are highly politically affiliated, many of them have self-serving interests and some of them have made no substantial contribution to the sport over the years. For those reasons I think they should not pursue this course of action,” Forde said.
“We have many precedents within football that points towards a bad outcome whenever they is an intervention of the sort they are pursing. We see what happened in Cricket and other sports disciplines. If we are prepared to go down that road, then it’s their choice to make.”
Forde said that while he holds Matthias in high esteem due to his shrewd administrative dealings as former GFA Secretary, he declared: “However regrettably during his tenure as GFF President, I have reasons to question his ability and capacity to manage effectively at that level.
“Regardless of the reasons, many of which I am not privy to for many of his executives defecting from him, I think that situation to some extent is a reflection of the leadership. I believe that most of us that understand football are still asking ourselves what he has accomplished and there is very little evidence that he has accomplished anything.
“I still don’t believe that is reason enough to remove him and I also don’t believe he has sufficient time to repair the relationship between him and the disgruntled associations. My advice to him is not to waste time and energy in trying to repair those relationships but focus on trying to leave a tangible legacy as the GFF President,” said Forde.
