— could lose as much as US$100,000 annually
Guyana Football Federation (GFF) President Wayne Forde said the decision by FIFA to cut funding to the scandal plagued CONCACAF and CONMEBOL federations is unfortunate and that decision will have an effect on the smaller nations within CFU.
According to a report by Reuters on February 1st, the world governing body has ceased providing funding to the corruption plagued entities, a decision which is expected to cause financial difficulties for the two bodies.
Presently, the two confederations have been in the centre of corruption scandals which has seen 41 persons and entities indicted in the United States on different transgressions.
In an exclusive interview with Stabroek Sports, Forde said, “It’s unfortunate because CONCACAF is made up of big nations and small nations and it might not have any direct impact on the likes of Mexico, USA and Canada but for countries like Guyana, Suriname and Haiti, we obviously will be affected,”
Quizzed how much financial support the GFF stands to lose from CONCACAF due to the decision, he said “We know CONCACAF was giving the member associations US$100,000 a year but that stopped when this crisis erupted. It simply means it might be a while before we see any other form of support restored.
“If football needs to be cleaned up, we have to be willing to endure the uncomfortableness of the cleaning process. Obviously it brings a level of shame to us all, regrettably while the actions were perpetrated by a select few, we are branded with the proverbial scar,” he said.
“We will continue to receive our support from FIFA but there is a lot of areas of support that we receive from CONCACAF. But beyond the financial implications, it’s the stigma of the CONCACAF region being labelled a corrupt riddle.”
Questioned how much of an impact will this have on the projects currently being commissioned by the federation, he said, “It will have absolutely no impact. Projects of the GFF are funded directly by FIFA and our private partners.
“It is because of this crisis, we have chosen to nominate Mark Rodrigues, someone who can restore the image of CONCACAF and bring some credibility to the confederation.”
