DISGRUNTLED members of six associations affiliated to the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) on Saturday called a mini press conference to voice their anger over the way the affairs of the Federation are being handled.

The mini press conference was called after the associations staged a walkout of the GFF’s Ordinary Congress shortly after it reconvened on Saturday at the Regency Suites/Hotel, Hadfield Street.

It all came about after secretary of the National Women’s Football Association (NWFA), Aubrey Henry, questioned the legitimacy of the Upper Demerara Football Association’s (UDFA) Interim Management Committee (IMC) that was installed by the GFF and who therefore had voting rights.
He also questioned the legitimacy of other persons who were given voting rights despite their non-conformity to the constitutional pre-requisites.
Henry, who was first to take the floor after the introduction by GFF’s acting general secretary Mabiola Howard, stated that the Essequibo Football Association which was represented at the Congress is one of the errant units that were given voting rights.
This was vehemently denied by the association’s secretary Maxine Stewart who rose and said the persons who are objecting to her association being given voting rights are the same persons who kept them out from voting at the last election (2013). “They should be ashamed of themselves. We worked very hard over the past year to get our house in order and we are in order.”
She said the association has satisfied the requirements by regularising themselves and then acquiescing to the registration criteria.
East Demerara Football Association’s (EDFS) president Aubrey Hutson was the first to exit the conference room after informing GFF president Christopher Matthias that the inclusion of the IMCs was unconstitutional and that they (IMC) should not be a part of the voting process.
However, Matthias disagreed with him and Hutson gracefully asked to be excused and left the forum and was followed by delegates from the Georgetown Football Association (GA), NWFA, Guyana Coaches Football Association, Guyana Football Referees Council and East Coast Football Association.
Also walking out were GFF vice-president Ivan Persaud and GFF committee member and president of the NWFA Vanessa Dickenson.
According to Matthias, Persaud has been reluctant to work along with the GFF since the suspension of vice-president Collie Hercules and the resignation of vice-president Rawlston Adams. Persaud, Hercules and Adams are all from the Linden community.
This therefore meant that the remaining delegates could not form a quorum since 50 percent plus one of the Congress were unsuccessful as they represented only 50 percent of the body and this caused the Congress to be aborted for a second time in three months.

Matthias in a last-bid effort to have the issue resolved, approached the aggrieved delegates to come to a compromise but his efforts were futile, as they stood their ground and called the mini press conference just outside the conference room.
Representatives from the UDFA are claiming that eight clubs from the association wrote Matthias and identified their representatives for the Ordinary Congress, but Matthias ignored their correspondence and went ahead with his choice. “This is absolute nonsense and we are not prepared to accept these shenanigans,” one person declared.
Matthias is also being accused of unconstitutionally removing WDFA’s General Secretary which resulted in the General Secretary not having voting rights.
GFRC president Alfred King who is also the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport, during the mini press conference exclaimed, “What kind of guy Matthias is; he’s a demon as he is deceitful”, adding “the fundamental respect for the constitution is not being observed. Essequibo doesn’t even have five clubs.”
Matthias declared that the GFF would not be hijacked by persons with ulterior motives.
Written By Michael DaSilva