CHRISTOPHER Matthias outlasted and outclassed the 4-pack race to become the new President of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) when the most anticipated elections in the history of the sport was held at the Savannah Suite of the Guyana Pegasus last night.

The 46 year old Customs Broker made light work of his main rival Aubrey ‘Shanghai’ Major who had boasted about ascending to the position prior to the elections. In the final round of voting, Matthias ran away the winner by an 11 to 6 margin of victory much to the delight of his supporters who celebrated with loud cheers inside the lobby of the hotel. The disappointment was evidenced on the face of Major when the result was announced. The first candidate to be eliminated from the race was Ivan Persaud who could only muster a solitary vote from the 17 available, while both Major and Alfred King secured five each and Matthias led with six. In the second round King bowed out after he could only manage five votes again, as Matthias and Major were tied with six each going into the decisive round of voting. The elections will go down in the annals of the GFF as the ‘Matthias Force’ which changed the flow of the murky waters of the country’s football. In April of 2011 it was Matthias who along with a Supreme Court Marshall delivered the court Injunction preventing the GFF from proceeding with the elections and in the process he was physically accosted. Two years on, he has successfully challenged for the most prized position in Guyana’s football. Two past national players from the Bauxite Mining Town were also elected to Vice- Presidents position. Ivan Persaud will serve for two years while Collie Hercules’ term will last for four years. The other elected Vice- President is Rawle Adams while the two executive Committee Members elected are Vanessa Dickenson , president of the Women’s Football Association and Keith O’Jeer, president of the Berbice Football Association.