..Vows to continue football-centric agenda

Wayne Forde on Saturday was re-elected as the president of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF).

He secured his third consecutive term as the head of the football body after a decisive win against opponent Franklin Wilson at the December 9th Extraordinary Congress, setting the stage to continue his development-focused agenda rooted in the ethos of ‘Football First.’

The GFF president received 14 votes out of the total 22 eligible ballots, triumphing over Wilson, a former president of the GFF.

The Electoral Congress was held at the Federation’s National Training Centre in Providence, East Bank Demerara.

Following a seamless voting process accompanied by a verification recount, Forde was officially declared the victor just before 1 p.m.

In his post-election press conference, he acknowledged the members who demonstrated their faith in his leadership through the ballot and reiterated that his primary motivation for pursuing a final-term was to finalise ongoing infrastructure projects, notably the NTC and the Durban Park Stadium set to be named the Blue Water Shipping Stadium.

“We also want to go on record thanking the members who expressed through the ballot their faith in us for a final four years. Our motivation was driven primarily by our intention to complete the National Training Centre (NTC), and to embark on a monumental project at the Durban Park facility which we signed with Blue Water Shipping.”

He also announced that his administration plans to meet with Wilson and his team within the next three weeks to discuss collaborating for the betterment of football.

“We will be inviting presidential candidate Franklin Wilson and his slate in 21 days from this day to have a heart-to-heart discussion with them and to see how best we can bring them into the planning for the future development of our football. I believe that it is important that in our own way we can set an example where while we may have been on opposite sides when we lobbied the members for the office…that we can now come together and reconcile any differences we may have had and find a way to work together to move our sport forward.”

Head of One Concacaf and Caribbean Projects Howard McIntosh extended congratulations and recognition to both teams for their commitment to serving.

He noted that he was “pleased to see how the congress ran,” and is looking forward to working with the new administration to “grow football in Guyana.”

Forde’s 2023 team comprised Brigadier (ret.) Bruce Lovell, Rawlston Adams, Dion Inniss, President of the Women’s Football Association Andrea Johnson, Denneze Lovell from Den Amstel Football Club, Alden Marslowe of Bartica Football Association, along with Magzene Stewart and Rayan Farias.