A VERSE from the Holy Bible (Luke 8:17) says: “For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open”. This is the case now with the new Guyana Football Federation (GFF) versus Christopher Nurse saga. Nurse is Guyana’s most successful captain who is known for not only his defensive midfield exploits, but also for being passionate about the sport which earns him a living and also making sure that Guyanese players are not unfairly treated.

Guyana’s Golden Jaguars wrapped up what would be their worst Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Caribbean Cup tournament since 1994; failing to win a game and even scoring a single goal in what many thought was the weakest group of the competition, being placed alongside St Lucia, Dominica and hosts St Kitts and Nevis.
However, Nurse’s problem is not about Guyana’s failure and now being the laughing stock of Caribbean football; it’s the fact that president Christopher Matthias seems to have a problem with the overseas-based players like himself.
Prior to naming a squad of relatively fresh faces, Matthias had said his administration has reached out to all the overseas-based players but none had shown any interest in representing Guyana and that it’s time for the local players to be exposed.
But Nurse said that’s a lie and offered compelling evidence to substantiate his proclamation, while releasing an email addressed to Matthias and Technical Director Mark Rodrigues.
“Who is the GFF, to decide on who is Guyanese enough, to represent Guyana? According to the “FIFA Constitution” that you frequently refer to, all of the 2011/2012 senior men’s national team players passed the requirements to represent Guyana, otherwise they simply would not have been allowed to participate. I was born in London England; my father, my grandparents, my uncle, my sister, my nephew, my cousins all were born and reside in Guyana.
“I would love for you to stand in front of my father and my grandfather and tell them that I am not Guyanese enough to represent the national team. I am extremely proud to represent Guyana, it is in my heart and in my blood and I will not let you or any other person take those moments away from me,” Nurse said in his lengthy email.
“As a president, it is your job to generate funding and engage with sponsors all over the world, because football is a global game. There are successful Guyanese all over the globe. If you refer to them as “foreigners” do you expect them to part with their hard-earned money to support and sponsor a federation that does not recognise them as their own people?
“Institutional fascism is exactly how I describe your comments and I am grateful for your public display of emotion, as this provides a level of clarification to the lack of communication that you have continued to display thus far. A lack of honesty, A lack of forthcoming, A lack of transparency. All characteristics that you initially promised us would be the foundation of your administration, yet 15 months later here we are,” the English-born player said.
Nurse is of the opinion that from the 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign, the GFF had a product/team that was marketable globally, claiming “You (GFF) had something to take to businesses and say: this is what we achieved with zero facilities, no league, few certified/qualified coaches, a struggling economy, a “developing country.” The federation was in possession of the best football asset – a team performing beyond its means”
“Guyana wanted to reach the World Cup and follow in the likes of Trinidad and Jamaica, Costa Rica. Are you familiar with the squad of players that these teams had when they reached the World Cup? 80% overseas-based players – Costa Rica has Joel Campbell, a tremendous talent from Arsenal now playing in Spain, you’re saying they shouldn’t select him for the national team because he comes and leaves?
“The United States of America Men’s National Team should not select Brooks, Green, Diskerud, Chandler, Jones, and Johannsson? If a country like the U.S. with three full-fledged professional leagues, 100’s of stadia, and the well established amateur collegiate system still selected as many as six overseas-based players, who are we to frown upon such actions?” Nurse said in questioning Matthias’ notion of not using overseas-based players.
Matthias had said in his Interview on NCN that monetary resources are wasted on foreign players, but Nurse, again, questioned the GFF president’s statistical thinking, stating, “It is easy to make unsolicited claims about a topic that fuels at least some of the domestic sentiment towards foreign-born players. If you believe foreign-based/born players are the problem with the Guyana National Team then the solution is to close up the borders and become the first fascist isolationist football nation in the history of world football.”
Nurse added, “The technical director whom you (Matthias) appointed – Mark Rodrigues – is based in Tampa Florida, isn’t he a ‘foreigner’? You have employed a “foreigner” to assemble a national team, but you don’t want “foreign” players? JP Rodrigues is Mark Rodrigues’ nephew, also based in Tampa Florida. Is he a so-called “foreigner”?. The Lady Jags are 90% foreign-based players, coached by Mark Rodrigues, your appointed technical director. This is a total contradiction and quite frankly irrelevant to the National team programmes.
“You are president, so you should know these facts, so I have no idea why you speak with such football ignorance.”.