Matthias happy with the way football is being administered

DESPITE one of his vice-president’s resignation and his Federation ensnared in a heated public dispute with one of its affiliates, president of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Christopher Matthias says that he’s still happy with the state of the game in Guyana.

“With change, certain things are expected. With change, we will be met with resistance by those who would’ve been comfortable or enjoyed things exactly the way they were, even though, we all know it wasn’t right, or

would have fallen prey to certain situations in which we know should not have happened in the first place,” Matthias said in an exclusive interview.
Mathias’ vice-president Rawlston Adams handed in his resignation to the GFF and when asked about the reasons for what many feel was an impromptu decision by the Demerara Harbour Bridge Corporation General Manager, the GFF president pointed out, “I think that’s something only he can tell you.”
“It would be unethical of me, even in my capacity as GFF President to give Mr. Adams’ reason for his resignation. If he was contacted and still didn’t say, I think it’s only right that we at the GFF respect that. We, however, have accepted his resignation and are moving forward,” Matthias added.
Matthias is seen as the sport’s first egalitarian elected president, taking over in what was deemed the most closely followed GFF elections following the suspension of Colin Klass by FIFA.
He was elected to serve for two years and his ascension to the presidency, according to many pundits, heralded the dawn of a new era for the sport in Guyana, but those thoughts were short-lived.
Many persons feel as though his style of leadership is one of totalitarianism, with former National striker Collie Hercules pointing out, “It is clearly a dictatorship attitude he is portraying and that is not what the electorate placed him there for. I cannot say if it was worse when Mr Klass was heading the GFF, since during Klass’ tenure I was a player and could not comment on the day-to-day affairs of the GFF from an administrative point of view.
“But being elected vice-president under Matthias, I have seen clearly his dictatorial attitude and it is not good for the sport.”
Matthias said, when asked about his being viewed as a dictator, “When I took office, I was aware that though I won the elections, I was not liked by even those who voted for me,” noting “for years persons enjoyed a GFF that did things, in many instances, that were unconstitutional and those same persons who voted for me, embraced several of those things I would have proposed that needed to be changed”
The GFF boss added, “If you take a look at who are the ones calling me a dictator, it’s those whose ulterior motive has nothing to do with the development of football, but their personal gain and glory which was encouraged by previous administrations. But if you check the minutes from several of the meetings held, you would find that sometimes, unanimously my position on a number of issues were supported by the Congress.”
It was suggested in one section of the Media, that due to many feeling that Matthias was single-handedly ruling the GFF, his affiliates would have moved a vote of “no confidence” against him at last Friday’s General Congress, but Matthias laughed when Chronicle Sport asked if anything of such nature was forthcoming.
“I often wonder where some people get certain information from. That last meeting more than anything else, dealt with the UDFA situation and the minutes of the meeting would also reflect what I am saying”
Meanwhile, asked to comment on the situation of the Upper Demerara Football Association (UDFA) that resulted in all its executives being suspended, Matthias believes that if an apology was presented, maybe the General Council would have been lenient in its decision.
“The Linden situation is one of simple reasoning. I can’t recall one person other than the UDFA Executives that didn’t support the GFF in its decision.
“They had no regard for the GFF because they were told not to play in January 1 and that directive came from the General Council not Christopher Matthias and it was done so almost unanimously as well, and they were told so in writing. But they showed that maybe, the General Council don’t apply to them.”
Matthias opined that “maybe, if they had told the General Council last week that they were sorry for going against their orders, maybe things would’ve been different. I’m just saying.”
Looking ahead, Matthias said that the GFF’s immediate focus is to resuscitate the men’s national programme with the Caribbean Football Union Championship participation at top of its agenda.
“We are moving ahead with the national team and getting our guys ready for the CFU competition later this year. We have a proposed list of players and even that caused some problems. But we have our work to do,” Matthias said.

(By Rawle Toney)