Following Guyana’s second non-participation at a CONCACAF senior men’s football championship, former national custodian Travis ‘Zoti’ Bess has once again lambasted the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) for its continued neglect of the other versions of the discipline.
This was disclosed during an exclusive interview with Stabroek Sport Saturday.
“Guyana not participating in the Beach championship is very disappointing and once again shows that both the GFF and the Beach Football Association doesn’t care about the development of this version of football,” he declared.
The 2021 CONCACAF Beach Soccer Championship is the ninth edition of the event contested by national teams under the umbrella of the regional confederation.
The tournament which ended yesterday, took place at the Sports Complex Fedefutbol-Plycem in Alajuela, Costa Rica with 12 nations competing for the prestigious title.
Guyana participated in the 2017 and 2019 tournaments finishing 12th in their maiden campaign and failing to progress from the group round two years later.
This is the second time that Guyana has failed to feature in a regional championship qualifier, following their non-participation at the Concacaf Futsal Championship which was staged in Guatemala City, Guatemala from May 3 – 9.
The former Pouderoyen FC and Western Tigers alumni declared, “I personally believe the indifference that is coming from the GFF towards these versions of the football is because of the lack of activities by both the Futsal and Beach Football Associations locally.”
Asked what does Guyana’s non-participation in Futsal and now Beach Championship say about how the GFF prioritises and values other versions of the discipline, Bess said, “The non-participation in both the Futsal and Beach football once again says a lot about how the GFF priorities and values the other versions of football in Guyana.”
According to Bess, who is an emerging youth coach in the national setup, Guyana has the best chance to qualify for a World Cup tournament via the smaller formats, as the gap between the teams is not as significant, adding that Guyana’s continued absence serves only to deny players the relevant experience and exposure to international competition which adds to their development.
“I do believe in my heart that our best opportunity to feature at a World Cup is either through Futsal or Beach football. Until both the Futsal and Beach Football Associations get their acts together, this will continue to happen. It is robbing players of the opportunity to acquire international caps and exposure because, like I said before, not every player can play for Guyana in the regular football format. This will always be our best chance to qualify for a World Cup,” Bess said.
The ongoing competition also serves as the qualification tournament for CONCACAF teams to the 2021 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in Russia, as the eventual finalists will represent the region.
Mexico are the defending champions and features in Group-A alongside Panama, Guadeloupe and Belize, while Group-B is made up of El Salvador, Bahamas, Guatemala, and Dominican Republic. On the other hand, Group-C consists of the United States, Costa Rica, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Turks and Caicos.
