(Letter to the Sports Editor)
FIRST, congratulations go out to Guyana’s Golden Jaguars for their excellent performance in qualifying to League A in the CONCACAF Nations League.
The Jags ascendancy to League A is a shining light and much appreciated for the sport which has not enjoyed a great deal of positive news for quite some time.
It briefly managed to overshadow the recent “no comment” response attributed to Chairman of the Electoral Committee Marcel Bobb, whose remark signaled the start of what is commonly referred to as the silly season.
Bobb was responding to a question posed by a section of the media inquiring whether the process to determine the eligibility of voters for the upcoming December 9 Electoral Congress has started.
One would think that to eliminate any assumption of distrust it would better serve the incumbent to disclose all criteria relating to eligibility procedures, in a timely manner.
As far back as can be remembered, the two major sports in Guyana (football and cricket) have traditionally provided onlookers with such comedy and ire it seems hard to believe that the respective jobs are voluntary.
The volunteer ascription is what all the eventual winners say following victory, but the silliness that occurs before election day makes it difficult to understand helpfulness.
How could aspirants for the top job endure the level of resentment thrown at them, all in the name of volunteerism, at the expense of their family, friends, and even their careers?
The two individuals vying for the top post incumbent Wayne Forde and challenger Franklin Wilson have contrasting styles of management.
The former tends to be intractable in his decisions, not too keen on consensus, while the latter is more accommodating and open to compromise.
At a time when the sport is suffering from poor visibility, spectator absence, and lack of on-field competitions, it is easy to predict who right-thinking members of the electorate will elect.
Forde was afforded eight years to increase the fortunes of the sport, but instead, all witnessed a rapid decline in the game’s visibility, the struggle to pay players continued, the disappearance of structured competitions in nearly all the member associations, and most disappointingly the lack of development at the grassroots level.
The failings in these critical components of the game are unpardonable and the electorate must agree that he was given ample time and resources to correct the flaws.
Instead, he became so absorbed in self-promotion that every other facet of the sport’s development finished a distant second.
On the other hand, Wilson, a former President of the GFF, has demonstrated the ability to administer for all, his tenure, which came suddenly and amid one of the biggest scandals in world football history, was littered with positive results and a quick perusal of that period will testify to this.

He is more receptive to listening to stakeholders and governs by being inclusive and fair.
It is therefore pellucid, that any elector genuinely interested in garnering the respect of its leader and concerned with the state of the game and its participants here, should not hesitate to give Wilson the nod.
(Football Supporter)