THE Extraordinary Congress of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) yesterday unanimously adopted a new Constitution for the sport here in Guyana, according to Chairman of the Normalisation Committee, Clinton Urling, at a press conference hosted at the Marriott Hotel in Kingston.FIFA’s Head of Member Associations Primo Cavaro, who chaired the process, indicated that the biggest change in the Constitution was the introduction of more voting members to ensure a holistic approach moving forward and to guarantee inclusiveness of all stakeholders.
“The biggest difference between what was before and is now with the new constitution is about the membership, of course, because we are now 22 delegates,” Cavaro told reporters.
The FIFA Member Association head highlighted that the inclusion of the eight Elite League teams and the teams having voting rights is not “unique to Guyana” and is within the confines of what the World governing body is promoting throughout its member associations.
“FIFA is to try and promote balance between the main stakeholders. One of the main stakeholders is the Elite Football, first division, professional, whatever the name maybe. Here it’s the Elite football because it is the mirror of the football of Guyana. Teams playing in this division are the ones that will go to CONCACAF competitions; they are the ones attracting the attention of the youth and so on,” said Cavaro.
He added, “That’s why we vote and FIFA is promoting the fact that we have a balanced unit, also the elite being part of the membership but we have also the amateurs, who are represented by the regional association and then we have the groups of interest like the referees and the coaches and so on. We have Futsal and beach and so on.”
He indicated too that the positive energies that flowed during the hour-and-a-half session to adopt the new Constitution augurs well for the forward thrust of the sport in Guyana, while he publicly commended the work done by the Normalisation Committee.
Urling revealed to the media that the unanimous decision to adopt the document shows the intent of the stakeholders involved to move the sport forward. He also hailed it a historic move, adding that Guyana is on the way forward.
“This process today, with the adoption of the constitution is a first step. Again our mandate continues as the Normalisation Committee. The next step is for us to go to every member association. Under the new constitution, we now have 22 members as opposed to 12 before, so we have to ensure that their Constitutions are in order, and we also have to serve as the electoral body to observe those elections,” Urling explained.
The GFF NC Chairman further added, “Every M.A. (Member Association) will be a part of that process so that in the end, we will have executive committees and representatives of all of our members and from there we will go to the next Congress which we will elect our new executive committee of the GFF.”
The Elite league will be represented by Alpha United, GDF, Slingerz FC, Pele, Fruta Conquerors, GFC, Buxton United and Monedderlust FC.
The interest groups will include the Guyana Football Coaches Association, the Guyana Football Referees Council, the Guyana National Women’s Football Association, the Guyana Futsal Association and the Guyana Beach Soccer Association. Each member is entitled to one vote.