… Team departs today for USVI

By Ras Wadada
ON the eve of departure for Group 4 action in the Caribbean Football Union’s (CFU) U-17 preliminary competition, the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) announced the removal of assistant coach Vurlon Mills from the team travelling to St Thomas in the United States Virgin Islands (USVI) today.Coach Mills will also face the GFF’s Disciplinary Committee along with nine members of the squad for breach of instructions handed down by the GFF.
Yesterday, the Executive Committee of the GFF was summoned to an emergency meeting at the Federation’s office to address the gross insubordination of the coach and players and after hours of evaluation it was agreed to put the matter into the hands of the Disciplinary Committee.
According to the president of the GFF, Wayne Forde, the team will now travel without an assistant coach but Mills’ will be replaced by Sampson Gilbert who will accompany the team in the capacity as a Youth Development Officer.
Reports are that coach Mills and the nine players ignored the instructions of the GFF and went ahead and played in a game of a schools competition last Monday, despite team manager Carlos Bernard advising them that the GFF has instructed that no player must participate.
Chronicle Sport was reliably informed that during a conversation last Monday with an official of the GFF, the Headmaster of the school in question threatened to terminate the scholarships of the players if they are not allowed to play. The nine players implicated will also go before the Disciplinary Committee on their return from the USVI.
In an invited comment manager of the team Carlos Bernard indicated that the squad is upbeat and ready to play but admitted that coach Mills will be missed, “The boys are all eager to go out and represent the country. I must say coach Mills’ presence and input will be missed, no doubt”.
The full 19-man squad selected reads: Goalkeepers Jonathon Copeland and Sefe Norville; Defenders Jeremy Garrett, Cecil Jackman, Akiel Forde, Kevin Padmore, Cosmos Dos Santos, Javier Smith and Alwyn Franklin; Midfielders Rondell Peters, Lorenzo Miller, Tyrel Khan, Nicholas McArthur and Canadian-born Roberto Case and Forwards Maleki Adonis, Joshua Ferreira, Kobe Durant, Daniel Floy and Omari Brewley.
Head coach of the team is Anthony Stephens and the support staff includes Goalkeeper/coach Gavin Browne, Goalkeeper Development coach – Eon Deviera, Physio/trainer Lindley Langhorne and Equipment manager Devon Winter.
Guyana will begin their campaign on Friday against Jamaica and two days later take on the hosts while the final encounter will be next Tuesday versus Antigua and Barbuda.