Adrian Giddings, General Secretary of the West Demerara Football Association [WDFA] says that he will not be in attendance at the impending GFF Electoral Congress on Saturday due to the lack of transparency involved in the process.
This was disclosed by the Pouderoyen resident during an exclusive interview with Stabroek Sport.
Giddings stated, “I don’t know the reason for the GFF being so tight-lipped, but what I can say I won’t be a part of this and I can’t sit in a congress and support anything being said when it comes to football development when there is none. This just feels fishy and not transparent, this says a lot about people. How can you have an election and only have one slate, what are we saying that no one is interested in football anymore, I refuse to and don’t believe that. It is simply not transparent and I will not support it.”
The GFF will stage its Electoral Congress at the Pegasus Hotel on Saturday. The only slate that will feature at the Extraordinary Meeting is the incumbent and Wayne Forde [President], Bruce Lovell [1st Vice-President], Rawlston Adams [2nd Vice-President], Thandi McAllister [3rd Vice-President] and the five Executive Committee members Dion Innis, Ryan Farias, Terrence Mitchell, Carmel Williams and Magzene Stewart.
Mitchell replaces former Berbice Football Association [BFA] President Keith O’Jeer, after the latter was suspended in April 2018 for inappropriate behaviour.
The aforementioned group was nominated by East Bank Football Association [EBFA] President and former GFF Chief Franklyn Wilson. The previous instance of an incumbent administration being elected unopposed occurred during the much-criticised Colin Klass reign.
According to Giddings, “It does reflect poorly on football and the GFF because there is not anyone running against the current administration and I don’t know why the GFF has not made information public. There isn’t anyone running against them or desirous of running against them, so why the secrecy. It just looks bad because of the lack of transparency, I don’t see the reason why it’s so secretive.”
Asked if the current administration has done enough to justify a second term in office, Giddings declared, “No, the current state of football is dead, it was far better off before. I am not seeing the development of the sport, even at the youth level. Though I must give them a little credit for trying with the NAMILCO, but more needs to be done. If you look at the youth national teams that feature internationally, they have not performed. I expected a lot more from this administration and they have terribly disappointed. For the level of funding the GFF receives, it is not apparent that football is being developed. Look at the Elite League, Alpha United and Slingerz, the two most professional teams have been destroyed under this tenure.”
He further added, “The associations who are trying don’t receive much help from the GFF to stage events. We recently qualified for the Gold Cup and individuals are saying it’s because of the large influx of foreign born players. When asked why the locals are not in the team it is often said that football is not being played locally. Whose fault is that, it’s not the associations?”
Questioned on if there are individuals who could ascend to the administration of the GFF and improve the current state of affairs, Giddings said, “The Kashif and Shanghai are tested individuals that could be utilised to improve the current state of football. They are tested and proven in this realm. There is also the Petra Organization, they play a vital role and without them football doesn’t exist in Georgetown and in other areas.”
He further added, “If you are being honest, other tournaments such as the Guinness street football and other community events have masked the federation’s shortcomings and made it seem like football is being played and developed by them. Perfect example is the Elite League that has not restarted since March and we have Nations League games coming up and we are not playing. I want to see the local players but I wouldn’t select because they are not active. This is all the fault of the current administration.”
