Dear Editor,

DID the GFF get caught between a rock and a hard place? This question refers to the publication of an article captioned “Vurlon Mills says his dismissal was wrong” (SN: 15/07/16).Editor, since I am no longer involved in the sport’s administration, from an honest perspective, I can only draw on my previous involvement to arrive at a basic conclusion in relation to the above-captioned. Suffice it to say that this present GFF administration may have a different outlook on the impending issue. But at the end of the day, written documentation to all and sundry within the affiliate/associate structure serves as a deterrent for any misconstrued interpretation.

Previously, all clubs, via the perspective parent bodies, were written to, duly informing them of a selected squad in encampment and continued training ahead of national representation. Once this occurs, club representation ceases forthwith, and in the instance where a club has three or more players in a national squad, postponement for the forthcoming match/matches is automatically guaranteed. This is during the time the national team would be engaged.

A typical example would have been the recently concluded Stag Beer Elite League — Alpha United. Additionally, the coaching and managerial staff members are also named.

However, my query in relation to ‘Did the GFF get caught between a rock and a hard place?’ is specifically in relation to the following:

I: What criteria were used by the panel of coaches for the selection of players?

II: The ongoing Digicel Schools’ Championship or the GFF Namilco Tournament?

III: Are all the players participating in the Digicel Tournament affiliated to the GFF via clubs within the respective associations?

IV: Were Digicel and the respective associations/clubs informed of the selected national squad of players; encampment, departure and return?

V: Is this year’s Digicel School Championship sanctioned by the GFF, with all the conditionalities as per the EBFA/EDFA year-end KO tournament?

Surprisingly, Vurlon Mills, coach of the Chase’s Academy and initially Asst. Under-17 National Coach, was axed with no formal notification. Mills contends that he received no documentation pertaining to his continued role with the school team, neither was he aware that seven players from Chase’s couldn’t have represented the school in the ongoing Digicel Schools’ Championship. And he says he wasn’t aware that he subsequently had to appear before the GFF’s Disciplinary Committee.

Surely, if all that Mills is claiming is true, then the GFF can be deemed culpable for administrative blunders. Interestingly, what would be the fate of the 7 players? Would they be sanctioned? Whose product are they, the GFF by virtue of Club affiliation, or Chase’s through Mills’s coaching?
Is Mills a member of the Coaches Association? If not, in what capacity can he be summoned to a hearing before the Disciplinary Committee?

In my estimation, a conflict of interest situation has arisen relative to Mills’s involvement!

With time constraints definitely against Digicel, albeit in this specific tournament, a postponement for Chase’s is more than likely to cause major disruption. At the end of the day, I do hope that good sense and sanity prevail. Would Mills’s impending sanction by the GFF’s Disciplinary Committee affect his club and national representation?

Regards,
LESTER SEALEY