Wayne Forde, President of the Guyana Football Federation [GFF], was re-elected unopposed when the entity conducted its Electoral Congress at an Extraordinary Congress yesterday at the Pegasus Hotel.
The incumbent was re-elected at the forum which saw the absence of the West Demerara, Beach, Futsal and Referees Association. The Beach, Futsal and Referees associations were deemed not to be in good standing, while the Georgetown Football Association attended simply as an observer.
The new executive reads 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 the East Bank Football Association [EBFA] President and former GFF Chief Franklyn Wilson. It was seconded by the Bartica Football Association.
The other two major developments that occurred at the congress were the successful passing of the GFF 2020 Budget and the Sexual Harassment Policy.
The launch of the policy on sexual harassment is seen as particularly important.
Last year, the GFF initiated a Commission of Inquiry (COI) into the sexual harassment of female referees by match officials and administrators. The inquiry, which commenced in March 2018, followed allegations of sexual harassment by several female referees against senior members of the referees fraternity.
The report of the COI recommended the removal of Head of the Referees Department Stanley Lancaster and Referee Assessor Roy MacArthur from their respective posts. Lancaster was subsequently dismissed while McArthur was provisionally suspended.
The GFF later sought feedback on its draft sexual harassment policy and this was later finalized.
Forde during a post-congress press briefing yesterday said, “On behalf of the Executive Committee we want to say thank you to the members of the GFF General Council for bestowing on us yet another mandate to direct the affairs of football development for the next four years. We obviously recognize that this is another opportunity for us to improve the current and prevailing challenges that we have in football. Nonetheless the members have handed us yet another mandate and we will undertake to do the best that we have over the past years. I would like to thank CONCACAF through my good colleague President Victor Montagliani and Marco Leal, Chief Officer of Member Associations, for being here and sharing this occasion with us and monitoring and overseeing the process of the Extraordinary Congress.”
Asked about criticisms from former IMC Chairman Clinton Urling about the Extraordinary Congress, Forde said, “I can never recognize what someone’s motive might be but I can recognize when someone is being irresponsible. I think common sense alone dictates that you do some homework before you go to the press and make these utterances. With all due respect for Mr. Clinton Urling and his colleagues at Stabroek News, there should be background checks on these information before they get out in the public because the potential is that it can influence the perception of the general public as to how the GFF is conducting its business and that relationship can hurt our relationship with corporate stakeholders. I believe it’s totally irresponsible, it had no factual bearing and it’s very much unfortunate”.
He further said, “I do not know what his motives might have been, I have seen a particular pattern with Mr. Urling. I have never heard from him when we qualified for the Gold Cup, never heard from him when the U17 Girls for the first time won their group, when we completed our first FIFA Forward Program and many of the other historic achievements that we have achieved over the past four years but I do hear from him whenever there is a particular challenge or something that could present a particular difficulty so his motives will have to be defined by him. But as far as we are concerned we will get on with the business of developing football.”
Meanwhile Marco Leal, CONCACAF Chief Officer of Member Associations said, “My task here today was to observe the congress on behalf of FIFA and CONCACAF to determine that everything was carried in accordance with the statutes. That being said it was also important for CONCACAF to have a presence at this congress because over the past years Guyana has become a real powerhouse in relation to football in the region and also an example to follow in relation to governance and administrative restructuring. So we wanted to be here to celebrate this very special occasion. President Montagliani and the CONCACAF team and family would like to congratulate President Forde and his whole team for his historic re-election and wish him luck in his next four years and endeavours.”
Leal disclosed, “Just to inform you in accordance to the statutes first there is no prohibition to hold an election at an extraordinary congress, in fact there is a specific provision in the statutes in the section of the extraordinary congress which speaks of elections at an extraordinary congress.”
He further added, “So it is in conformity with the statutes. Second the association is supposed to hold its ordinary congress in May of each year. Mr. Forde’s team or slate or executive committee was elected four years ago in November so holding the election in May of this year would have shaved or stolen many valuable months from his mandate or tenure. So it makes logical sense to hold elections later in the year when his term is over. Third and in fact we often recommend the holding of elections at extraordinary congresses when the agenda is smaller, when more attention could be focused or given to the electoral part and last one I can cite an example the current FIFA President [Gianni Infantino], his first election in 2016 was held at an extraordinary congress in Zurich. The information contained [in the news article] is not accurate, it’s absolutely legal and the international bodies CONCACAF and FIFA fully recognize the congress and the elections held here today.”
