Minister of Sport Charles Ramson today said that he has been advised by the Amateur Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) that there was never any need by the country’s athletes at the CARIFTA Games for payment of COVID-19 testing and meals which the AAG was not in a position to handle from the support they received from the government and the Olympic association.
His statement came amid reports that the athletes had to depend on assistance from others in Jamaica for meals and COVID testing. The minister’s statement would suggest that the AAG had sufficient funds to take care of all needs and the question still to be answered is whether the association provided the athletes with all that was required.
An edited statement by Charles Ramson follows:
Having just met with the President of the Amateur Athletics Association of Guyana, Mr Aubrey Hutson, members of the National Sports Commission, and the Director of Sports, the public is hereby advised that Mr Hutson has stated that there was never any need by our athletes at the CARIFTA Games for payment of Covid testing and meals which the AAG was not in a position to handle from the support they received from the Government of Guyana and the Guyana Olympic Association hence the reason why no additional assistance was sought from the Government of Guyana for these items as claimed in a facebook post by Nigel Hughes and the APNU-AFC.
The Ministry and the National Sports Commission has had dealings with the AAG and Mr Hutson for over a year and a half and have no reason to doubt the veracity of Mr Hutson’s express statement. In fact, no media outlet has reported any situation of such a need so one is left with no other choice but to conclude that the posts by Nigel Hughes and the APNU-AFC are … an attempt to gain cheap political points on the backs of our athletes representing Guyana when really we should be celebrating their outstanding success at the Games.
The public can be assured that there will never be a situation where our athletes are in another country and an unforeseen situation arises and this President Irfaan Ali led Government of Guyana will refuse to assist. In fact, the Ministry of Culture Youth and Sport and the National Sports Commission have done so many times already. A media video of the interview with Mr Hutson will be released shortly and Mr Hutson has agreed to issue a public statement today refuting the content of the post by Hughes.
Finally, the success of Guyana and young Guyanese on the international stage is important to all of us. Uniforms and payment for Covid testing while not unimportant, it is inappropriate to be raised while our athletes are competing. It breaks their focus and risks affecting their performance. If you genuinely want to see what is best for our athletes, then there is a time and a season to deal with issues – put them first – they deserve no less coming from people who claim to be interested in their welfare.