Clinton Urling, former chairman of the Guyana Football Federation [GFF] Interim Management Committee [IMC], has criticized the lack of transparency for today’s Electoral Congress as well as questioned the rationale for staging an election utilizing an Extraordinary Congress.
In an exclusive interview with Stabroek Sport, Urling said, “I will not be part of any slate. However, as an outside observer and Honorary Member of the Federation, who spearheaded the reforms to make the organization’s democracy and good governance apparatus as sturdy and robust as possible, the lack of transparency on this electoral congress is worrying and should not have been accepted by the membership of the Guyana Football Federation. Their silence can be interpreted to mean consent and conformity.”
In a statement on Thursday, the GFF defended its plans.
“The GFF would like to state categorically that the GFF Extraordinary Congress has been convened in accordance with the GFF Constitution and with oversight of FIFA and CONCACAF”, the GFF statement said.
The notification of Congress, nomination of slates and preparation for the Election of the Executive Committee is being done in accordance with the GFF Constitution, the GFF Electoral Code and with the oversight of the GFF Electoral Committee, the statement said.
The GFF will hold the Electoral Congress at the Pegasus Hotel. The only slate that will feature at the Extraordinary Meeting is the incumbent and comprises 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, the current UDFA boss, replaces former Berbice Football Association [BFA] President Keith O’Jeer, who 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. To date, the federation has not disclosed which member association has seconded the Forde slate nomination.
According to Urling, “As with the paternal body of the GFF, FIFA, where the electoral congress is known in advance and always occurs at the annual congress the year after the World Cup football tournament, except for special circumstances that would necessitate an Extraordinary Congress, one would have expected that the electoral congress of the GFF be held at the ordinary congress scheduled for next year.”
He further added, “The ordinary congress would have given candidates six weeks advanced notice to get together respective slates and to campaign the GFF membership to solicit votes. However, by imposing an extraordinary congress out of nowhere, the GFF executive committee has given contesting parties four weeks to prepare. This shortened timeframe obviously gives the incumbent an unfair advantage over any other contesting slate. Moreover, why the need for an extraordinary congress? What was so urgent that the GFF had to host elections via extraordinary circumstances? Why would the incumbent cut short its tenure which ends at the latest some 7 months from now?”
Urling added, “The only logical conclusion would be to shut out any potential challenger(s) to the incumbent. This move definitely sets the GFF back years in relations to transparency and fairness. These are the activities that sow and implant the seeds that led to the fractured nature the federation was in a few years ago.”
Meanwhile, a veteran administrator who spoke on the condition of anonymity said, “They [the GFF] have reduced the timeframe for the Congress from three months to six weeks and the constitution is very clear on when a Congress can be called which is basically two ways.”
According to the source, “The election of office bearers must take place at an Ordinary Congress and nowhere in the history of football, whether FIFA, CONCACAF, CFU or otherwise has an election of office bearers occurred at an Extraordinary Congress. This is history, they are creating history. The GFF is setting precedence with this move which is not consistent with the constitution. This can even be challenged in the court of law.”
The source further said, “An Extraordinary Congress is basically what the word says, for extraordinary or unexpected purposes, not for an election which is supposed to be known months in advance. There is no snap elections in sports which is what is occurring here. They are basically holding a congress with a hidden agenda. They are denying the membership the constitutional right and ability to elect their own leadership and everything is being set in favour of the current administration to keep them in office. They are depriving the membership of their constitutional right.”
