Dear Editor,
During the second week of June 2023, several articles were published about the national football head coach and the national team in relation to preparations for the Gold Cup Tournament. However, what is lacking in the approach taken by all the news outlets was to properly research and interrogate the issue for public consumption. It could also be true that some media outlets have no interest in the matter.
The August 2022 GFF Constitution requires all aspiring members of the GFF Council to not have a criminal record and more so a conviction. From the days of Colin Klass, all GFF constitutions spoke to the issue of not allowing persons with criminal convictions to be a part of football, hence, a popular co-promoter was not on the GFF executive. But with that said, with the reforms to the GFF, the principals in football appeared to be less cognitive. Thus, we saw the structures of the GFF swamped with convicted criminals in the persons of team managers, club owners, promoters, and coaches. At one time we had both the manager and the assistant national team managers who were deportees.
One is forced to ask what is the premium placed on GFF’s image, and what FIFA is doing about this situation. Editor, what is most appalling is the principals who were supposed to protect GFF’s interests are knowingly associated and associating with these characters at the highest level daily. Hence, when the sitting GFF President on 9th June 2023 can say in the Stabroek News article, “We knew about Shabazz’s situation all along,” and that “this is not an ideal situation”, speaks volumes about the sum leadership of the GFF in 2023. Those comments were in defense of someone who had taken up arms against a democratically elected parliament and lives were lost during an attempt to overthrow an elected government.
Considering the above-mentioned, does the GFF ask its prospective employees for a police clearance or are appointments made at the bar? Editor, does it matter anymore? With 90% of CONCACAF games to be played in the USA, why associate with technical staff that you knew years ago cannot travel to the USA? How is it that those who must get background checks done by the Electoral Committee to be elected to the GFF executive are willingly associating with criminal groupings be it from deportees, elite club management, and or coaches? Editor, this may be one of the reasons why no student from the University of Guyana, Queens College, The Bishops’ High, or St Stanis-laus College has featured on the National Football Team for the last decade.
Sincerely,
(Name and Address Withheld)