To describe Guyana’s ‘colourful’ sporting landscape often evokes adjectives and phrases such as, mismanagement, visionless, myopic and politically driven.
These terms have become part and parcel of the nation’s sporting fabric and DNA, a quandary that grows with each passing year. The Georgetown Football Association (GFA) falls under this description.
Once a heralded entity for its posture and leadership qualities amongst its sister associations, the GFA is nothing more than a shell of its former self, driven down this reckless and thoughtless path by individuals, who are not prepared for the arduous task associated with football administration and development, but view the position as a means to an end, in the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) office.
The association under the current ‘supervision’, an administration which was elected on October 17th 2015 prior to the GFF Election on November 13th 2015, is myopic and has become an example of what not to be.
Under its existing leadership, the association has failed in its mandate and promise to revitalize the sport in a region which has consistently possessed the best clubs and players.
Private promotion has given the GFA sustenance, a type of life support which masks the inadequacies and failures of its leadership.
As an ardent football fan echoed, “The GFA is a featured artist, much like the singers who simply appear in music videos and only contribute a portion to the song.”
Where are the programmes, the youth tournaments and senior leagues that once highlighted the activities of this association? Football continues to provide the wrong reasons for national discussions, as a political mindset has now become entrenched in our administrators.
A simple illustration of the indifferent attitude exercised by the experts at the helm of the entity. The NAMILCO U17 national tournament has restarted in several of the other associations, but in the realm of the GFA, seems unlikely to resume for unknown reasons, despite the association being allegedly presented with the necessary tools [funding and balls].
Indolence also illustrates the GFA’s mood, with the association mirroring the Guyana Futsal Association, another ‘conglomerate’ of football ‘specialists’ who have achieved nothing since coming to being.
However, unlike the Futsal unit, the GFA has a rich history and a structure, which sadly is being neglected for unknown reasons by personalities incapable of fostering football’s growth. Where is the development?
Although the GFF is also to be partly blamed for allowing the continued ineptness of the association, the lion’s share must be placed on the doorsteps of the clubs who continue “to live in this squalor”.
The ‘teams’, possibly without consultation from its most precious resource, the players, elected an administration amid much fanfare and promises, only to be served with a reality check of inactivity.
It is almost two years and nothing has occurred that equates to growth on the part of the GFA. Is the body even constitutionally functional given the covert nature in which it is being operated?
Perhaps private promoters should be at the helm of the GFA since they are the ones that have provided a product, for the associations’ players to remain active in this protracted dormant period.
The tradition of local football politics will continue as the wrong persons are repeatedly elected to office. Maybe change will occur at the next GFA election scheduled in the coming weeks.
