IN THE Holy Bible, we read in John 1:46 Nathaniel’s response to Phillip who told him he found the Messiah, Jesus Christ with Nathaniel’s response being “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth? With Phillip saying, ‘Come and see.”I decided to use that biblical phrase, in reference to the recent appointment of Trinidad and Tobago national Richard Groden as the General Secretary of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) which is currently led by a Normalisation Committee (NC) headed by businessman Clinton Urling.

Unfortunately for me, at the time of Groden’s appointment, I was hospitalised hence the delay in this article, but during such time, I have noticed also, that Director of Sport Neil Kumar and president of national club champions Alpha ‘The Hammer’ United Odinga Lumumba had publicly criticised Groden’s appointment.
So my question to the members of the NC including the distinguished Dr Karen Pilgrim is: Isn’t there any creditable individual born and bred in Guyana, the Land of Many Waters and six races, whom the NC can appoint as General Secretary?
Yes, many would say that Ms Deidre Davis will serve as Groden’s assistant and when the life of the NC is over, she will take over the position of GS, but why wait until then to put her in the position and have her act as an assistant to an individual, during whose time as General Secretary within the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (TTFF) many discrepancies occurred.
As I traverse Water Street recently, many vendors were asking if the GFF is being sold out to Trinidad and Tobago, now that the General Secretary is a Trinidadian to go along with the soon-to-be-appointed head coach in Jamal Shabazz (whose appointment is not being questioned, since his records with the Golden Jaguars speak volumes).
As Mr Lumumba clearly stated in his article, the present administration of the GFF is allowing FIFA and CONCACAF, to take it back to the days of colonialism, where we were being dictated to by those in charge without question.
“I think that every Guyanese should feel insulted by this new development as it paints a picture that this country is still a colony and can be dictated to. The GFF now needs to tell the public how this happened. Who applied for the position and why persons from this country were turned down, “added Lumumba.
Certainly, I agree with Mr Lumumba when he said the GFF NC must give the public an explanation. In fact, a detailed explanation as to how they arrived at the selection of Groden for the position and who were the list of applicants applying for the said position.
And certainly, the Mr Clinton Urling’s statement given at the press conference is not good enough since he did not say how many Guyanese applied for the position and what is the reason why they were bypassed for Groden’s selection by the two governing bodies.
The following was Urling’s response to the Media as it relates to Groden’s involvement in the Mohammed bin Hammam cash-for-votes scandal which rocked this part of the world a few years ago.

“An investigation does not assume guilt. If your employer says that someone had stolen money and they had to investigate all their staff, it doesn’t mean that all their staff are guilty Groden was never suspended by FIFA, he was cleared of all the charges”, Urling told reporters when cornered and grilled about the concerns over the hiring of the new GS.
Prior to the GFF being thrown into a quagmire that required the intervention of FIFA and later the implementation of the NC, George Rutherford and Noel Adonis served the GFF well as General Secretary.
And while it is mind-boggling for me to recall the assistant to Mr Rutherford, I do know straight off the bat that Aubrey ‘Shanghai’ Major served as Adonis’ assistant and together with Colin Klass and later Franklyn Wilson (after Klass was removed due to certain infractions), football in Guyana was well governed.
So even if it is for a short period that Groden is being asked to serve, why not go back to one of the three men mentioned above if no suitable application was received, instead of appointing Groden or is the NC simply saying that no Guyanese is good enough to fill the position?
If that is the case, why use Ms Davis as Groden’s assistant until the life of the NC expires, following which she will take over the position in full until such time when she decides to call it a day in the position.
Then you are saying no Guyanese is good enough to step up to the plate until a foreigner performs in the position, trains the Guyanese and then decides to hand it over at a time that is set by the NC or when the foreigner decides to resign from the position.
The time is ripe for the members of the NC, led by their chairman Mr Urling to give to the football-loving Guyanese a detailed explanation on this issue, which has been bothering the minds of many and who need the answers immediately.

(Asks Calvin Roberts)