Dear Editor,
To the best of my knowledge the term sub-association was abandoned way back in 1999, if my memory serves me correctly, and was removed from the Constitution and Statutes of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF). As a consequence, I was left bewildered on the morning of March 16 when on tuning into the VOG Sports News, I heard the GFF President express his concern about the senior national football squad, being selected from a mere 3-4 sub-associations affiliated to it.
Subsequently, I made contact with the NCN Sports Department for confirmation of the statement emanating from the GFF President, which was confirmed, and I then relayed my concern about the national squad selection. It would be remiss of me not to mention a previous question I had posed last year prior to the commencement of the Elite League, when I asked if the selection of locally based players for the senior national squad would consist of Elite League players only. The question went unanswered at the time.
The GFF President needs to be reminded that he was once the President of an Elite League participating club. If it didn’t matter then, why should it matter now? Further, with a lull of activity in other associations at the senior level, how can the coaching and technical staff assess the performance and standards of players from the various associations, when apart from the GFA and UDFA, senior leagues are not being played elsewhere? In the UDFA costs would have to be offset for accommodation, meals and transportation, and is this within the annual budget of the GFF?
It would be prudent if the GFF President channelled his public disclosures via the Public Relations Department, if one exists. Whatever enters the public domain must always be able to withstand scrutiny. Suffice it to say, the onus is on the GFF to ensure that the sport of Association Football is played by all of its affiliates, and each association should be required to submit its annual calendar of activities within a specified time-frame.
Yours faithfully,
Lester Sealey
