Adrian Giddings, General Secretary of the West Demerara Football Association (WDFA), has declared that the entity will not resume any football activities in the immediate future unless given the mandatory green light by the Ministry of Public Health.
This was disclosed during an exclusive interview with Stabroek Sport yesterday. According to Giddings, who formerly donned the colours of Pouderoyen FC during his playing career, “Until the Ministry of Health gives the clearance, I am not putting anyone else at risk. Everyone wants to play, however I don’t think we could or have the capacity that we could start back and test everyone before and after games. I can’t with a clear conscience do that, until the Ministry of Health agrees.”
He further stated, “Football shouldn’t play until we can test all players before and after. In my opinion, the medical experts don’t fully understand this virus and I won’t put people’s lives at risk. That is the position of the West Demerara Football Association. In a nutshell we are not taking any risks with the lives of people. Until the current situation is completely removed and we have that everything is safe from the Ministry of Health then we can resume. Other than that I can’t restart, people might want football to start back but lives are at risk and we cannot take that chance.”
Georgetown Football Association (GFA) President Otis James during an interview in another section of the media, advocated for the creation of a testing system for players in partnership with the Ministry of Public Health, before football can officially resume.
However, Giddings opined that while the creation of such a platform could be beneficial, the overall expense associated with its implementation and overall sustainability might not be financially feasible during the current situation.
He added, “The testing of players before and after is not a bad idea but who is financing this project? Is it FIFA or the Government of Guyana? If we are getting the finances to do it sure but this is not the time to burden yourself especially with the ongoing financial situation and the other issues occurring in the country at the moment.”
Giddings further added, “We should sit out this football year, one of the things that people are getting carried away with is that football starting back globally especially in Europe means that Guyana can restart. Guyana is not Europe and we don’t have the capacity and the resources to that at the moment.”
Asked if the GFF has disclosed any plans for the eventual restart of football activities following the creation of a working group, he disclosed, “Nothing from the GFF was disclosed with us about a working group, I saw it in the media but we have not had any meeting in that regard, we have not heard anything.”
However Giddings revealed that the GFF has provided several players with assistance during this period, elaborating, “The GFF has offered hampers to players as a form of assistance due to the Covid-19 situation.”
He further disclosed that the situation has had a severe impact on the finances of the association, which has been unable to provide the necessary assistance to the players. He added, “Financially it has had a big impact on us at the moment. If we had football being played, we would have been able to give money as assistance to the players. The effects from this pandemic are being felt by everyone.”
