….. finance is the biggest burden

By Ras Wadada
“IT is one thing to have an opinion as to what a job entails when you are on the outside, but it is a completely different thing to understand what is required to get the job done, when you are on the inside; and I would be the first to admit that I was not prepared for the level of demands that being President of the GFF would impose on my entire life.“ I literally put in 14 to 15 hours daily on this job and that in itself is a challenge,” President of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF), Wayne Forde, revealed in an exclusive interview with Chronicle Sport last Friday.
As chief of the “Beautiful Game” here in Guyana, Forde has been featured regularly in the media since being elected to the top position last November and over the last week, his executive was taken to task for the non-payment of prize monies for the Elite League that concluded last month.
The president informed the media that the G$7.5M prize monies for the top four finishers were handed out to the respective clubs last Friday and payments to the players will be made shortly.
“The delay in payments to the clubs and players of the Elite League is regrettable, but unavoidable, since the GFF has to take it out of our Development Funds and we did not have the money. In my estimation, most of [the] Guyana the Elite League has been a success and I want to give credit to Ansa McAl for coming on board and sponsoring the league.
“ The major part of the funding to sustain the league is done by the GFF, including operational costs and prize monies and payments to players which we increased from $2,000 to $3,500 per game for each player.
I honestly feel the players are the reason why fans come to the venue and they deserve the increase despite it being a challenge for the GFF.
From the very beginning, we as a new executive found it very challenging. When we took over the GFF it was just two weeks before the conclusion of the first phase of the Elite League and we did not inherit an impressive financial position, so this imposed on us an immediate burden to find G$7.5M. Thankfully, we were able to do it,” the football boss declared.
“The Elite League is not our only product, but surely takes a lot of financing. We have courses for referees and youth development and others all year round. Also, since we took up office of the GFF we have had a very active International schedule and that takes a huge chunk out of our finances.
“ The Lady JAGS’ Olympic qualification rounds cost us around G$13.5M. Our Men’s Senior Team is now in the third round of the CFU Caribbean Cup, which involves two games in October and the U-17 Boys are now playing in the CFU preliminary competition at a cost of $68,000.USD. Every International engagement sets the GFF G$5.5M back.
“These are the deep-rooted financial challenges and it is unfortunate that corporate Guyana have[sic] not embraced us. The Governments of Guyana and Canada came on board and supported the international friendly against Canada and that was timely. Next month our Girls U-15 are down to participate in a regional competition that will cost between $62,000. And $68,000.USD. With such a huge financial burden, we found it difficult to pay out the G$7.5M prize monies on time,” Forde disclosed.
When quizzed on the details of the contractual arrangements the GFF made with the sponsor of the inaugural Elite League, the president stated that because of certain confidentiality clauses in the agreement he could not divulge the details.
He however indicated that the agreement with the sponsor ended at the end of the second phase of the Elite League, though he is hopeful of having them on board again, but with a different business module.
“Again, we must be thankful for Ansa McAl coming on board at a time when all sponsors seemed unwilling to come on board. I think it was a brave investment on their part,” commended Forde.
Looking ahead, the former Fruta Conquerors president cited that there will be a different approach to securing sponsorship for an improved Elite League.
“I have been at the helm in running several tournaments for several years and in my negotiations with the various sponsors, the first thing I took care of was the prize monies. So I am a bit concerned about the business aspect of the way things were done. We will negotiate in the principle and spirit of sponsorship for football which covers several key aspects, chief among them prize monies.
“ If there is anything I have learnt from the club level, it is that at a minimum you need to protect the prize monies because the clubs and by extension the players are the key stakeholders, so we will be approaching all negotiations in the spirit of protecting all prize monies.
“I think it is essential to have more than one sponsor on board, but what we have got to work out are all logistic arrangements. There will be a different way of securing sponsorship in moving forward,” an optimistic Forde affirmed.
On the question of the appointment of a new Technical Director (TD), the president advised that within a few days the announcement will be made. The GFF has been without a TD since March of this year after Claude Bolton tendered his resignation.
“In the last few weeks, we have interviewed a number of high-quality coaches from around the world who have indicated their willingness to come and help develop our football. We want to be absolutely certain we have a quality TD who is prepared to be here in Guyana for a minimum of four years, so in a few days we will be making that announcement who is the TD for the GFF,” Forde said.