President of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF), Wayne Forde told the Media, in his first interaction since assuming the leadership, that plans for next year will be implemented, while assuring that the annual year end football will be regularised.“We had strong representation from our members and they wanted to have their own tournament. Now our thinking is very simple on the matter.
“ Each sub-association should be given the opportunity to raise funds and it is expected that the executives of those sub associations take the initiative to raise their own funds, and if the most lucrative period for them to do those fund raising activities exists in the December period and at year end, then we think it’s only fair to give them that opportunity.
“However, this year, we have made it absolutely clear to everyone of the Member Associations( MAs) who are running tournaments…they have been given very clear guidelines and one is that we want to see their finances and we have set a date in January.
“ It is important for the executive committee to be satisfied that these activities are profitable. We don’t want MAs to be applying for tournaments and at the end they are in the red, they have creditors pursuing us, because as it works creditors will come to the GFF so the tournament they are running must be viable.
“We are also planning to engage all of the sub-associations during 2016 because we believe a more structured approach is necessary for the end of year.
“ We have a few ideas that we will take to them, and hopefully with their involvement in the conversation, we will come up with an idea and a structure that will be very, very practical.
“ I think this year will be the litmus test as to whether each sub association running their own tournament is the formula we really need. The good thing about the approach that we are taking is that whatever decision comes out of that whole process they will be a part of it and that is the kind of ‘buy-in’ that we hope to have as we go forward in the decision-making process”, Forde explained.
“In another couple of weeks we are going to constitute an ad hoc committee that is going to be a tournament steering committee and we are hoping to have quite a few regulations coming out of that committee.
“ When we look at some of the common challenges that private tournaments find themselves in, we realise that it is not the fault of the organisers of these tournaments.
“ It is because we have not as a federation laid down clear regulations and guidelines regarding the criteria for applying… the conditions that need to be met by the organisers, a good comprehensive contract that lays out the rules… and that is why we find ourselves in the same problems year after year,” the President suggested.
The football boss was also loud in praises for the Elite League while informing that revision and recommendations will be addressed shortly, “We have constituted a review committee for the Stag Elite League and they are tasked with looking at the league, dissecting the league and coming up with recommendations as to how we can improve the league.
“There are a few things that we can all acknowledge, and one is that the competitiveness of the league was beyond our expectations; it’s a very, very high-volume league from a footballing stand point.
“ Crowd attendance compared to what we had a year or two ago was very impressive and I am very pleased, but there are several aspects of the Elite League that trouble us as an executive, and one in particular is that we are going to be working very hard with the committee to find a solution for, is how to sustain the clubs that are part of the Elite League.
“ Anyone that is involved in the business of football from the club level can definitely appreciate the challenges in taking a club through a league for a couple of months. It is very, very costly and very, very challenging, and we believe that the GFF needs to take a leadership position in finding a sustainable model that will help these clubs to endure the cost and the other implications in making it through a league.
“League football is where development of players occur but league football is also very costly, and to leave clubs alone to carry that burden, given our understanding of the situation in Guyana in terms of the support that corporate Guyana has given to the sport in the past, is that we are hoping to improve, it is unreasonable and it is one of the key things that we want to address.
“ We have asked the review committee to come up with some practical ideas and suggestions as to how we can address these problems,” Forde declared.
The President also mentioned that plans are in the pipeline to stage an International Friendly here in Guyana, next month end, for the Golden Jaguars against a Caribbean nation, and that the senior Men and Women national teams will be involved in the Guyana 50th Independence celebrations next year May.

By Ras Wadada