President of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Wayne Forde said yesterday that the federation had not lifted the suspension on Slingerz Football Club president Javed Ali.
Ali has been suspended from all meetings chaired by the GFF President or any member appointed by him until he writes a formal letter of apology. This occurred following his alleged unruly behavior at a meeting held September 9th between the federation and the Elite Teams at the GFF headquarters, Section-K Campbellville.
In invited comment Forde told Stabroek Sports:“The suspension has not been lifted and it’s unlikely to happen but there are some options on the table.”
Forde’s comment came after several of the Elite League clubs issued a letter in support of Ali and requested that the GFF withdraw the ban.
The clubs that signed the document in support of the West Demerara businessman are Alpha United, Georgetown Football Club (GFC), Guyana Defence Force (GDF), Monedderlust FC and Pele FC.
Abstaining from signing was Buxton United while Fruta Conquerors did not attend the meeting. The letter of support came about after Ali wrote the Elite League Clubs seeking their backing on the sanction.
However, Forde said the focus will be on things that were discussed at the meeting.
He said that there is no entity from a constitutional standpoint that represents the Elite League Clubs adding… “There is no way that the GFF can very those signatures.”
As such, Forde said the GFf would not be placing too much emphasis on the letter.
On another note, Forde said he is unsure when the GFF Elite League will recommence. According to Forde, several issues are still to be ironed out before the commencement of the tournament.
Asked if Ansa McAl, under its Stag Beer brand, will continue as the flagship sponsor, Forde declared “yes”.
The start of the league was dealt a severe blow after six of the eight clubs stated they will not commence the second season unless several pertinent issues were dealt with.
Quizzed if the failure to restart the league will significantly affect the national programme with Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Caribbean Cup matches billed for October, Forde said that anything which deviates from their schedule is a cause for concern.
He, however disclosed that the federation was working to resolve the issues as quickly as possible.
Following an emergency meeting on September 14th, the clubs took a position not to restart the event via a signed letter that was sent to the GFF claiming that the federation made decisions without their consultation.
The six clubs are Alpha United, Georgetown Football Club (GFC), Guyana Defence Force (GDF), Monedderlust FC, Pele FC and Slingerz FC. Buxton United abstained from signing while Fruta Conquerors was absent from the gathering.
The main dispute presently facing the teams is the GFF’s decision to increase the membership of the tournament to 10 teams.
Linden’s Topp XX and East Coast of Demerara side Victoria Kings are the two teams expected to be added to the league but according to the clubs, the initial contract signed between themselves and the then Normalization Committee of the GFF stated the event will not feature relegation or promotion until the end of the second season and that a process of increasing the amount of teams is in fact an act of promotion.
