By Ras Wadada
THE current buzz circling the ‘Beautiful Game’ here in Guyana is that the country will not be represented at this year’s CONCACAF Club championship in what appears to be non-participation due to not being in good standing with the Guyana Football Federation (GFF).
National Club Champions, Slingerz FC and runners-up, Alpha United along with Pele FC and GFC have all had their GFF’s membership status withdrawn after they decided not to participate in the second season of the GFF-STAG Elite League which belatedly got underway last November.
Their decision to pull-out of the nation’s top football competition, despite CONCACAF’s intervention on their grievances and guidance in the matter, is now proving to be a costly one, not only to the club and players, but also to the country.
The term, ’not in good standing with the GFF’ is unhealthy for the clubs and in essence means that their inclusion in this year’s CONCACAF Club Championship has been revoked.
From all indications, the four Clubs will have to start all over again by reintegrating with their former Member Association’s (MAs) League before returning to the Elite League.
The feeder competition or format for promotion to the Elite League is yet to be announced by the GFF, though it is certain that the team ending at the bottom of the Elite League season-two will be automatically relegated while the second to last side will enter a play-off with qualifiers from the nine MAs of the GFF.
It means that there will be room for five teams to be elevated to season-three of the Elite League ‘2017-18’ which now creates greater interest and competitiveness in the various Leagues of the MAs.
The Georgetown FA will surely be highly competitive with the likes of Pele, GFC and Alpha along with Western Tigers, Riddim Squad, Police and Santos.
More importantly, clubs should get organised to register as a FIFA/CONCACAF Licensed Club which is a main criterion for entering the Elite League.
What is of greater interest is what will transpire during this first month of the year in the transfer window of the GFF.
Already there have been speculations on the directions of a number of players destined for the second half of the Elite League, though there has been no official transfer after the first week.
The office of the GFF will become busy with transfers as soon as the official word from CONCACAF on Slingerz and Alpha’s participation or non-participation is released.
