Seasoned referee, Tyrone Tyrell, was elected unopposed as President of the Guyana Football Referees Council (GFRC), when the entity staged its electoral congress on July 21 at the National Training Centre (NTC), Providence, East Bank Demerara.
This was confirmed by Tyrell during a brief interview with Stabroek Sport, where he declared, “I am the new President, the election was held on July 21st at the NTC.”
The other members of the new executive are: Vice Presidents Venton Mars and Lenval Peart; Secretary, Utinde Allen; Treasurer, Colin Abel; Assistant Secretary/Treasurer, Kenisha Prescott; and Committee Member, Osafo Dos Santos.
Asked if the election was constitutionally correct, and if a legitimate quorum was achieved and in attendance, Tyrell responded, “We were guided by the Guyana Football Federation [GFF], they will have to give that information. It was attended by referees but I don’t have the direct number. Registered referees attended, if I give you an exact number I would be lying. The GFF President was there, Frankie Wilson [GFF Head of Member Associations] was the presiding officer.”
He further explained that primarily referees from Georgetown attended the forum, adding, “I can’t remember seeing anyone from Berbice, I think someone from Linden was there. I’m not sure, but most of the people were from Georgetown. I can’t give a number at the moment.”
GFF General Secretary Ian Alves, when contacted, stated that he was busy and unwilling to field questions.
Asked if the previous president and current GFF Executive Committee member Dion Inniss had stepped down from the helm of the entity, Tyrell noted, “I am not sure if Inniss stepped down, the council has been inactive since 2018 so I’m not sure if he stepped down. It was published [Notice of Election], initially it was scheduled for another date but everything wasn’t in place so it was published for a later date. We had ensured that all the constitutional requirements were met.”
However, a source close to the GFRC, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, questioned the legality of the entire process.
The source stated, “In 2018, we had two AGMs for election and both failed because we didn’t have a quorum. At that point, they were given 21 days to reconvene but never did. This was done by the returning officer Mr. Corbin. After that, the body became null and void because nothing happened. For four years, from 2018 to now the body has become inactive.”
According to the source, “Based on the constitution, they are supposed to send out a notice 21 days before an AGM with an agenda on election of office bearers. That was not done, then suddenly we hear that an entire slate got selected. A quorum couldn’t have been achieved, the only person from Linden that was there was actually selected to be there as a member of the new executive. That is not an election, if they had 15 officials or representatives from the referees’ body, they had plenty!”
The source further explained, “The body was not functional for four to five years. For the past six years, there were no referees dues, or subscriptions being paid, so based on the constitution there is no financial member, which makes everyone null and void. They couldn’t have had legal voters. The GFF should have called an AGM, and made sure everyone becomes bonafide and then stage an election. No financial statements since 2015 was presented. This entire process was illegitimate.”
