WITH APPLICATIONS coming from as far as Romania, along with the USA, Canada and the United Kingdom, the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) will announce its new Technical Director of Football early January 2015, according to Chairman of the Normalisation Committee Clinton Urling. The GFF yesterday hosted its end-of-year Press Conference where it was noted by Urling that since advertising the vacancy, the GFF has received an overwhelming response from applicants who the German’s Restaurant proprietor said are all highly qualified.

Since the exit of Jamaal Shabazz; considered as the most successful technical director, Guyana sank into oblivion and had fallen by the wayside on the international football circuit.
Canada-based Guyanese Mark Rodrigues was appointed as Technical Director under the FIFA-disbanded, Christopher Matthias-led GFF.
However, according to Urling, “The TD position became vacant. In fact, one of the applicants was Mark Rodrigues and when we came in, FIFA made it clear to us that we needed the services of a resident technical director. While Mark was the TD, he wasn’t resident here in Guyana so we had to move in the direction where we had to fill that post with someone who will commit to living in Guyana.”
Urling told the gathering of reporters at the GFF’s head office that Guyana will participate in the CONCACAF Olympic Qualifiers (Under-23) and the 2018 World Cup Qualifiers in 2015 and as such, the TD’s position is one of importance since it will be responsible for the composition of teams and the gathering/identifying players suitable to represent Guyana.
The announcing of a technical director will come after Guyana play Barbados in an international friendly in the Land of the Flying Fish, which the Normalisation Committee’s chairman pointed out will be paid for by the Barbados Football Federation (BFF).

GFF in debt
Urling said that GFF is currently in debt in excess of approximately US$400 000 to US$450 000 and with 2015 being a busy year for the GFF; it will face an uphill task in procuring the required finances.
“What we have done is to register for the World Cup and Olympic Qualifiers and the only one we might have some funding is the Barbados game because the Barbados Federation will be taking care of us and all we will have to do is find the airfare.”
He added “Nothing is etched in stone in terms of how the financing will come so we will have to rely on private sector sponsorship for most of our projects along with some of the funds the GFF will raise through our tournaments and some of it will come through FIFA”.