PRESIDENTIAL Adviser on Youth Empowerment, Odinga Lumumba, who also serves as the General Secretary of the Georgetown Football Association (GFA), is refuting claims made by President of the Upper Demerara Football Association (UDFA) Sharma Solomon of political discrimination. 

Solomon under the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) is Regional Chairman of Region 10. He has long had a say in the affairs of football in Linden since he served previously as secretary and vice-president of the Upper Demerara Football Association (UDFA).
However, following his ascension to the politically appointed position he now holds, one of Guyana’s youngest-ever Regional Chairmen was later named president of the UDFA.
The 33-year-old Solomon is leading his Association in battle against the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) who had suspended him for eight years; three more than his other executives, for what the Federation believes is total disregard by the UDFA for their rules and regulations.
Lumumba at last Friday’s GFF General Congress, voted in support of a proposed suspension of the UDFA executives. However, Solomon, at a press Conference hosted yesterday, singled out the Alpha United owner for “questioning” his political office and being prejudiced.
“We are aware that at a meeting held January 17, 2014, members – including the (GFF) President (Christopher Matthias) and Mr Odinga Lumumba – questioned the elected political office which I hold in Region 10. Such statements violate the rights of the UDFA members as stated in Article 3 of the GFF’s constitution,” Solomon said.
Solomon then went on to recite Article 3 of the constitution which states: “the Federation is neutral in matters of politics and religion. Discrimination of any kind against a country, private person or group of people on account of ethnic origin, gender, language, religion, politics or any other reason is strictly prohibited and punishable by suspension or expulsion”
According to Solomon, “it is vindictive party politics that wants to determine Linden Football. It is the same vindictive party politics which has unleashed a structured and sustained programme to destroy the economic well-being of the people of Linden that resulted in K&S Final being run at the Providence Stadium.
It is the same programme of the economic marginalisation that is being applied to the UDFA to deny them the right to hold their own tournament and have their finals on January 1.”
“Is that boy mad?” Lumumba said when contacted by Chronicle Sport for a response to Solomon’s claim.
“I don’t bring politics into football. I’ve been in football for years and never have I brought anything about politics into the sport. I spend millions of dollars in the sport with my team (Alpha United) and I have used my office to even help the game, but for Mr Solomon to claim that I have politically discriminated against him is just nonsense,” Odinga said.
Odinga, a Member of Parliament under the People Progressive Party (PPP) ticket said, “All I simply did was voted for them (UDFA) to be penalised for showing total disregard to what we at the General Congress had set out with regard to them playing on January 1. It was me who then also asked that the GFF be lenient in the penalty.
“But the claim of me bringing politics into football is madness. I wouldn’t waste time even going further on the situation at hand because it didn’t happen, so I wish him well with whatever he wants to get out of this.”
Meanwhile, Solomon said that the UDFA is preparing to dispatch a letter, written to the GFF General Secretary, calling on his executives to institute disciplinary charges against Lumumba in that he has moved at a Congress to discriminate against representatives of the UDFA on the grounds of political affiliation.

(By Rawle Toney)