Former Guyana Futsal international goalkeeper Travis Bess has lambasted the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) and Guyana Futsal Association (GFA) for their non-participation in the recently concluded Concacaf Futsal Championship which was staged in Guatemala City, Guatemala.
This was declared during an exclusive interview with Stabroek Sport yesterday. According to Bess, who also was a Beach Football International custodian, and has been capped a combined nine times for both programmes, the GFF and the Futsal Association should explain why the nation didn’t compete at this prestigious championship, which provides one of the two best opportunities for Guyana to qualify for a FIFA World Cup.
Best explained, “It is very much disappointing because one of Guyana’s best opportunities to make a FIFA World Cup is either through Futsal or beach football. Failing to participate in this tournament has shown that the GFF and the Futsal Association are very much inactive and incompetent in marketing and developing this version in Guyana. It was never disclosed to the nation that there was a Futsal Championship approaching and that Guyana would not be participating.”
The 2021 Championship, which was the 7th edition of the prestigious regional tournament, featured 13 nations. Defending champion Costa Rica claimed their third consecutive championship and fourth overall title, as they defeated the United States of America 3-2 in the final on Sunday at the Domo Polideportivo de la CDAG in Guatemala City, Guatemala.
The top four finishers qualified for the 2021 FIFA Futsal Championship, slated for Lithuania in September. The other two qualifiers are third place finisher and host Guatemala, and fourth positioned outfit Panama.
He noted that Guyana’s non-participation in the event extinguished the opportunity for several of many local talents, players who might not have been able to represent the nation in the traditional format. He declared, “You [GFF and Futsal Association] would have robbed many players of the opportunity in getting international caps, exposure and experience because not everyone can get caps in the traditional format. Both GFF and the Futsal association should take blame for this and give an explanation why we didn’t participate. I am very disappointed that we didn’t participate.”
Bess participated as a goalkeeper in the 2016 Caribbean Qualifiers for the Concacaf Futsal Championship in Cuba, as Guyana ended with a record of one win and two losses in Group-1. The Guyanese conceded 11 goals and recorded eight conversions in route to their aforesaid record. This included a 5-2 loss to Curacao, a 4-3 defeat to Trinidad and Tobago, and a consolation 3-2 victory over Antigua and Barbuda in their final outing.
The Guyana roster which comprised locally-based players, also included Richard Reynolds, Konata Manning, Sherwin Skeete, Jermin Junior, Solomon Austin, Eusi Phillips, Jerome Richardson, Daniel Favourite, and Travis Grant. The management team consisted of Joseph Wilson (head-coach), Claude Bolton (technical director), Denzil Thompson (goalkeeper coach), and Mark Younge (team manager).
Asked if Guyana’s non-participation highlights the GFF’s indifference to its other formats, Bess opined that the lack of international participation as well as local visibility and development of Futsal by both the federation and Futsal Association, indicates that the format is not as important or valued.
He opined, “We as a federation and association do not see the importance of these versions in comparison to the traditional format. They don’t see the value and importance in them. As a player that would have gained recognition from this version, it hurts me to see that we don’t place emphasis on this version of the sport. I honestly believe this is one the best opportunities to make a World Cup and the GFF needs to do more to develop this version.”
“We are not supposed to be missing these types of tournaments because they are not as expensive in comparison to the traditional format to participate in and we are competitive and stand a better chance to qualify”, Bess added.
