Last Thursday, the affiliate associations/federations of the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) convened for a Special General Meeting at Olympic House, Liliendaal to ratify or reject proposed changes to the GOA constitution.
This meeting garnered a lot of attention since the constitutional review had been ongoing for over two years based on an International Olympic Committee (IOC) recommendation that would have a profound effect on the way the GOA is administered. The IOC proposal included the imposition of an age limit of 70 years for executive members of the IOC and its affiliate National Olympic Committees (the GOA in this instance). This followed on the heels of a motion from the Guyana Squash Association at the last AGM, in 2016, for the imposition of term limits for GOA presidents. (It had been unanimously agreed upon by the General Council that the incumbent President’s term in office would be recognized from 2012). In addition, there was a proposal for the adoption of a Finance Committee to manage the GOA’s funds and the examination of non-functioning associations/federations. In the latter case, several national associations/federations have been viewed in many quarters as mere voting props at the quadrennial elections, since for the most part, they have no functioning executive committees or councils, host no national activities or hold any AGMs.
Following the secret-ballot voting process, the returning officer declared that the vote count for the adoption of the IOC age limit was 29 – 13 in favour of the motion It is very disappointing that there were 13 votes against a recommendation proposed by the IOC, an organisation which, in the not too distant past, had been subject to heavy scrutiny for its business conduct and is trying to clean up its act across the board. This was not a willy-nilly proposal from the IOC, but a thoroughly scrutinised recommendation which was passed on to the respective national bodies. In voting situations, as in this case, where it is plus one-minus one, another nine votes against the motion, would have resulted in a 20 – 22 tally, and the motion would have failed, thus creating the very circumstances the IOC is trying to avoid.
Current President of the GOA Mr K Juman-Yassin, in a subsequent interview with this newspaper, declared that he had accepted the decision of the organisation. The GOA President, who has served six consecutive four-year terms (the 2020 election cycle has been delayed by constitutional review), had previously expressed an interest in continuing. Prior to the ballot, Mr Juman-Yassin made a passionate plea to the association representatives to oppose the recommendation, noting, “You can become President of Guyana at any age and putting a cap on the age limit is a disrespect to you and your association.”
The former chief magistrate, who is 76 years old, has been at the helm since 1996 was obviously quite peeved with the final count, and declared that he was a victim of political interference. “The GOA has always remained apolitical and it is a shame that there was political interference. I think if there was none by the Minister, the associations would have voted otherwise,” Mr Juman-Yassin stated. He was obviously referring to his public spat with Minister of Sport Charles Ramson Jr over the penalising of athletes who participated in unsanctioned events during the COVID-19 lockdown. Following a December 2020 media release from the Ministry of Sport, the GOA President took the minister to task in a very long letter published in the sports pages of this newspaper on 18th January, 2021, painstakingly pointing out that sports associations/federations are autonomous bodies which should be free of government interference.
It is quite easy to appreciate the GOA president’s continuing interest in the much-heralded position, which comes with all manner of perks, including first-class airline travel, five-star hotel accommodation, attendance at IOC Congresses and major sporting events, and being the highly sought after subject of the wining and dining courtship routines adopted by the IOC countries seeking votes in their campaigns to host the Olympic Games. After spending almost a third of one’s life in this rarefied atmosphere, who would want to willingly leave it? Unfortunately, here in Guyana, we appear to have developed a culture where people take control of sporting organisations as if they are family inheritances and then proceed to run them as their personal fiefdoms with little or no public accountability. In January, the Berbice Cricket Board amended its constitution to allow the president to have five consecutive two-year terms in office, thus changing the previous administration’s amendment of three consecutive two-year terms.
During Mr Juman-Yassin’s tenure, there have been two recurring themes. Firstly, there has been the almost non-existent success of our sportsmen and sportswomen at international forums. Apart from four-time Olympian Aliann Pompey, gold medalist in the 400 Metres at the 2002 Commonwealth Games, and Nicolette Fernandes, gold medalist in Women’s Individual Squash at the 2022 PanAm Games, the cupboard is devoid of hardware. In his defence, the GOA President, stated that the lack of on-the-field success was directly attributed to the respective associations, however, he is responsible for utilising his position to badger the IOC and international organisations for all the support he can extract, especially in the areas of enhancing our training facilities and the development of coaching programmes across all disciplines, both of which are sadly lacking.
Secondly, there has always been a shroud of secrecy concerning the finances of the GOA. Mr Juman-Yassin, who also serves as President of the Guyana Fencing Association, has successfully parried all attempts to probe the finances of the GOA, by citing that it is a non-profit autonomous body which is free of government interference, and has met the IOC’s requirements of presenting audited statements at the AGMs. The IOC, like FIFA, is known for its generous annual outlay of funding for the development of sporting disciplines. However, the FIFA disbursement to the GFF is well known, unlike the one dispensed by the IOC. This can only prompt a slew of tough questions for the GOA. If these funds are provided for the sole purpose of development of sport for the entire nation, why aren’t these figures subject to public scrutiny? What’s the mystery? Is there an inequitable distribution of funding among the associations/federations? Are more resources being directed towards administrative costs than the development of athletes? Now that the General Council has voted that the GOA’s finances will be overseen by a committee this unacceptable state of affairs should not be allowed to persist. If the new committee is really serious about accountability and transparency it can commence with a forensic audit of the accounts for the last five years by an international auditing firm with no connection to the local body.
The subject of mysterious local sports associations/federations that appear at the AGMs for the sole purpose of voting has been a sore point for the longest time. No one is quite sure what these bodies are, who runs them, what purpose they serve and if they are recipients of GOA funding. Attempts to unearth these organisations are often met by stonewalls. As mentioned earlier, there is supposedly a fencing association; other allegedly existing associations include baseball, curling, kayaking, and mountaineering. Do these organisations really exist?
Now that a change at the top of the GOA is imminent it is hoped that the status of these associations can be ascertained and revealed to the general public. Perhaps we will also see a new set of faces as delegates at the international games instead of the same old personalities, which must have given the sporting world the impression that Guyana is an island in the South Pacific with a population of less than 2,000 souls.
The seismic change at the GOA can truly benefit associations and athletes. Going forward, they must demand transparency and accountability from the new administration lest they find themselves forever in the same circumstances.