Lumumba applauds FIFA’s move

GENERAL SECRETARY of the Georgetown Football League, Odinga Lumumba, is applauding FIFA’s latest intervention in Guyana’s football but its timing is being questioned.

“Things were at a standstill, football wasn’t moving, money wasn’t coming in, and so in my opinion FIFA had a right to come in. However, what FIFA has done recently should have been done a long time ago. They should have done something like this 20 years ago,” Lumumba declared.
Earlier this week a FIFA two-man team afforded GFF president Christopher Matthias the ignominy of joining Colin Klass as the second successive president to be booted from office by the world governing body.
On Tuesday CONCACAF Director of Legal Affairs Marco Leal and FIFA’s Head of Associations Premo Cavaro issued a red card to Matthias and is replacing the executive of the GFF with a five-man Normalisation Committee.
Matthias was elected president in April 2013 for a two-year term but from the inception his stay in office was rocked by controversy.
Vice-president Rawlston Adams resigned soon after citing dictatorial tendencies in the president and last January, Matthias slapped hefty bans on former national striker Collie `Hitman’ Hercules, another vice-president and Sharma Solomon, president of the Upper Demerara Football Association.
Matthias’ troubles were only beginning as a vote of No Confidence was brought against him, and there was successive abandonment of Congress, the latter forcing FIFA to intervene.
“I think that FIFA is now being proactive. This issue is not about Matthias. Rather everyone has to take the blame for where our football is. For years we allowed Klass (Colin) to do what he wanted. What that did is set the stage for dictatorship to emerge. It is my belief that FIFA should have stepped in then also, However, its better late than never,” Lumumba, the president of Guyana’s leading club Alpha United added.
Commenting on the selection of the Normalisation Committee Lumumba said he is not aware of who are persons summoned to serve.
“I don’t know what criteria are being used for selection and I don’t know who FIFA consulted. I would think that the various associations should be consulted. My only hope is that those chosen to serve are neutral, have management capabilities, are cognisant of the issues affecting football and have the respect of the football fraternity.”
Normalisation Committee (NC) will be in place shortly and would be in office until September 2015. FIFA and CONCACAF have mandated the NC to formulate a new constitution for the GFF and its affiliates and run the day-to-day operations of the local football which comprises interfacing with stakeholders and attendinng FIFA and CONCACAF meetings.

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