By Ras Wadada

FOOTBALLERS and fans of the ‘Beautiful Game’ here in Guyana, are now in a much happier state of mind as the much awaited kick-off date for the second season of the Guyana Football Federation’s (GFF) Stag Elite League was announced to the media, yesterday, at the Federation’s boardroom, after weeks of uncertainty due to an ongoing impasse with some Elite Club members.In disclosing the November 13th start, President of the GFF, Wayne Forde, explained to the media the meticulous course of action his executive took to pave the way for a start. “Over the course of the past couple of weeks the Executive Committee have been engaged in a very thorough consultation process with CONCACAF and FIFA to ensure that the guidance that we required in pointing the way forward was clear and concise.
“We have concluded the process and our last meeting was yesterday (Thursday October 27th) at 11:30 hrs with the FIFA Professional Arm and we have taken a decision to move forward with the Stag Elite League. A correspondence will be forwarded to the clubs in a matter of hours, indicating the kick-off date which is scheduled to be November 13.”
The football boss denied allegations by some Elite teams that there was no engagement with the clubs on the changes to the League: “I could say that the consultation process that we were engaged in, before we made the final decision to include two additional teams, looked at the format of the League, increased the prize money by $3M, the management of the game-day incentives and had a very thorough consultation process involved.
“The first aspect of the process had to do with all the clubs written to formerly by the Competitions Director, soliciting inputs, recommendations and advice on changes that we should consider for season two.
Three clubs responded with recommendations and five clubs did not. The second aspect of the consultation was a general meeting with the Elite clubs.
“ At that meeting there were exchanges. We shared with them our plans, we shared with them the new format and at that meeting we were asked by the clubs to put our ideas into a plan. A document was prepared by the Executive Committee and members of the secretariat and submitted to the clubs. The document captured every aspect of the changes we want to make to the rules of the tournament and the inclusion, of course, of two additional clubs.
“We had a subsequent meeting with the clubs, where they were given the opportunity to comment on those changes and to make recommendations. I could tell you that 97 percent of the recommendations that came from the Elite Club body were taken on by the Competitions Department and endorsed by the Executive Committee.
“We had invited the clubs to a third meeting but only four of the eight clubs showed up at that meeting and we proceeded to have a good conversation on the logic and rationale behind the decision to expand the League. We have had further private informal discussions and consultations with the Presidents of all of our Elite Clubs, and so I feel satisfied that the consultation process was very comprehensive and the clubs had an opportunity to raise their concerns”, Forde lamented.
Forde also expounded on the duties of the Executive of the GFF: “What we want to be clear on is the fact that the Executive Committee was elected to execute a mandate to develop football and it is our prerogative to consult with our members, to reach out to our members, to solicit, buy in from our members on the programmes that we want to pursue, but that must not be mistaken for the Executive seeking permission or authorisation to implement new plans, new ideas and new strategies.
“We were elected to do exactly that, to change the face of football and to make changes that will influence the direction of the development of the sport.
“Those precedents have been set by FIFA and CONCACAF, so I have no difficulty in making it clear that the Executive was elected and we are accountable to the membership. It is part of our mandate to pursue a developmental path that we think will bode well for Guyana’s football in the future”, Forde emphasised.
The President also promised that outstanding payments to Elite Clubs and all stakeholders will be made early next week, while disclosing that admission to matches in this upcoming Elite League has been slashed in half from last season’s price of $1,000.
The Demerara Cricket Club (DCC) in Queenstown is the venue for the launching of the 2016-2017 Stag Elite League. The 10 competing teams are: Cup holders Slingerz FC, runners-up Alpha United, Fruta Conquerors FC, Pele FC, GDF, Monedderlust FC, GFC, Buxton United, Victoria Kings and Top XX.