Latest update April 25th, 2024 12:59 AM
Dec 07, 2011 Sports
Dear Sir,
My involvement in football spans a number of years during which time I have seen the sport grow from strength to strength. Recently, the local squad have qualified for the third round stage of the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers prompting me to plead with the relevant authorities to do everything within their power to bring an end to the prolonged dispute between local affiliates and the ruling football bodies for the benefit of the country as well as the young and upcoming players, thus enhancing the development of the sport.
November 11 last 2011 marked the advent of a new and exciting chapter of Guyana’s football when the Golden Jaguars triumphed over Caribbean powerhouse Trinidad and Tobago to advance to the third round of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers. Whilst this success of the National team is overwhelming, there lies a problem which can further hamper the continuance of the successes witnessed in the sport.
Two of the country’s ruling football entities, the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) and the Georgetown Football Association (GFA) have had a long history of problems and differences which have hindered the progress of the sport locally.
Consequently, these differences have had a negative effect on the ability of the local players’ chances of selection at the national level and further affect the development of the game in Guyana. The club owners are also complaining because their players are being overlooked for selection on the national team. This apart, the real question is, how do these players earn selection on the national level when organizing bodies for local competitions fail to deliver competitive tournaments to assess their skills?
Now, as we approach the end of 2011, it is instructive to note that to date no meaningful game has been played throughout the country, even in the rural communities where it is deemed necessary for the survival of the sport and its development of young players.
Mr. Editor, footballers are role models and entertainers and depend on the organizing of tournaments to maintain their status and activity. The absence of requisite tournaments hinders us from accomplishing this goal.
A classical example could be drawn from the fact that the Kashif and Shanghai football tournament gets underway on December 10 next yet many of the country’s top local players has been excluded from competing in this tournament because of the ongoing battle between the GFF and the GFA.
At the end of the day, the players and the fans will both suffer because of the inability of the various stakeholders to hammer out an amicable compromise towards a resolution to these problems and by extension for the good of the game.
Charles ‘Lily’ Pollard
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