Guyana Football Federation (GFF) boss Wayne Forde says the country’s absence from the Concacaf Beach and Futsal Championships was due to several factors, including a lack of finance and the inability to manage two other national programmes during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
This was stated at a press conference held at the entity’s national training centre in Providence. According to Forde, the federation would have been unable to manage three national assignments under the current climate and the associated costs, in addition to which, the lack of activity in those formats was also factored into their eventual decision not to participate.
“First of all, the amount of work that we, as a federation, did to obtain approval for the Golden Jaguars qualification and the conditions under which those approvals were given. As you probably know there are frequent COVID-19 testing, it’s quite a challenge. It’s difficult for us to manage three things under those conditions, the costs that go into it and we also took into account that we did not have sufficient activity at those levels to really go out and throw money behind that so we had to make the tough decision of prioritizing where do we invest,” Forde explained
He added, “To manage three teams at one time under the circumstances that we are right now I don’t think any federation with the circumstances of Guyana would be able to that without ruining their financials for the remainder of the year.”
The 2021 CONCACAF Beach Soccer Championship was the ninth edition of the event contested by national teams under the umbrella of the regional confederation. The tournament which took place at the Sports Complex Fedefutbol-Plycem in Alajuela, Costa Rica, from May 17 to 23, featured 12 nations competing for the prestigious title.
Guyana had participated in the 2017 and 2019 tournaments finishing 12th in their maiden campaign and failing to progress from the group round two years later.
Meanwhile, the 2021 Futsal Championship, which was the 7th edition of the prestigious regional tournament, featured 13 nations. The event was held from May 3rd-9th at the Domo Polideportivo de la CDAG in Guatemala City, Guatemala.
The GFF’s operational cost for the initial window in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers was pegged at $29 million. This included a US$10,000 fee payable to the Dominican Republic Football Association (DRFA) for hosting the game against The Bahamas, as well as the chartering of a flight to and from the Spanish speaking nation at a cost of $12 million.
Asked about the funding and operational costs associated with the second FIFA Qualifying window, Forde said, “I don’t have the exact figures for the last two games, but I think St Kitts hosting was somewhere between 5 to10,000 US dollars. I think for anyone familiar with what is happening in regional travel must appreciate the fact that it’s difficult to use commercial flights to get around the region.”
Forde declared, “Our intention was always to give the team the best possible travel arrangement and it necessitated charters. It is very likely going forward that we will continue to use our network to negotiate better prices and rates but until which time that travel returns to normal in the region, we may be locked into using charters for regional engagements.”
“We will certainly share that information that we have with regards to the national team program, let me make this clear, I would say without any reservation that the GFF has been far more open than any other administration that would have led this sport, and again I would say that anyone with a fair pair of eyes would acknowledge that. Just as we came and declared the investment that went into the past engagements, once we have all the figures, we will make that announcement as well,” he assured.
