Latest update April 19th, 2024 12:59 AM
Jan 13, 2017 Sports
Former Chairman of the FIFA appointed Normalisation Committee (NC) Clinton Urling says the decision by CONCACAF to withdraw the participation of Slingerz Football Club and Alpha United Football Club from the Caribbean Club Championship is at best disappointing.
It was under Urling’s stewardship that the Stag Elite League (SEL) was birthed and commenced, the first edition being a success.
CONCACAF in a letter to the Guyana Football Federation President Wayne Forde on January 9, 2016 confirmed that the two clubs have been removed from the championship which they had qualified for as champion and runner-up of season one of the Stag Elite League, due to the fact that they are not in good standing with the GFF.
Urling said it is startling to him that CONCCAF arrived at such a position in unilateral way without giving either team an opportunity a hearing.
”They have also omitted to identify within the correspondence sent to the clubs which grounds are those clubs not in good standing, because from my understanding and discussions with those club owners and management, they are still legitimate members of the GFF under the Elite League category.”
He stated that the clubs have not breached any rules of the federation or would not have been sent a summons from the GFF on any infraction of the statutes.
”What they have done, they have disagreed with the executive committee in terms of the manner in which they tried to administer the second season of the elite league and they have also taken their case, after asking for arbitration, taken their case to the disciplinary committee of the GFF and they are awaiting a hearing and judgment on that matter.”
The businessman posited that none of the above constitute a breach that would put any of the clubs on bad faith or in non-compliance with any statute of the GFF.
”So for CONCACAF to just say vaguely that they are not in good standing without giving the specific example of what they mean by that is baffling and disappointing. The GFF, one, owes those clubs and the Guyanese public an explanation.”
Urling argued that this issue is beyond the Guyana Football Federation: “This is a national issue, this is where our two top national teams are being denied an opportunity that they rightfully earned to participate in a Caribbean wide competition that could potentially lead to a global competition because it goes to the CONCACAF Champions League which goes to the Club World Cup, eventually.”
The former NC Chairman noted that the kind of fame potential qualification can bring to Guyana would be enormous and should not be underestimated.
HE also pointed out that it is unfair to deny the clubs given the fact that they would have invested large sums of monies, in the millions, with a view to qualifying and are now left to ponder, what if!
”They would have invested time, resources; they would have even brought in international players in order to win the first season of the league which comes at a great cost. So when they had won that season they ha d a very legitimate expectation that they will be going to the Caribbean leg of the CONCACAF Club Championship and again would have invested even more to get there.”
Urling was adamant that eh posture of both the GFF and CONCACAF sends a message that if you disagree with any position of the president and if your disagreement is taken to any of the judicial committees you can be deemed not to be in good standing with the GFF even though one might not have been in breach of any of the regulations.
”This is a dangerous precedence to set and CONCACAF is basically saying, because the clubs have a disagreement with the executive committee and they are awaiting adjudication from the disciplinary committee, that you are not in good standing.
It is tantamount to saying that every decision that FIFA makes, if one of FIFA’s MA’s disagrees, FIFA automatically sees that as them being in bad standing. For instance when we took FIFA to CAS (Court of Arbitration for Sport) that did not mean that were in bad standing with FIFA, we just disagreed with FIFA in terms of the whole issue with the St. Vincent player.”
He explained that the GFF did not cease to be a member of the world governing body or was in bad standing noting that CONCACAF needs to explain their decision.
While pointing out that it is now too late for the two clubs to be re-instated, Urling posited that the GFF should have intervened from a country standpoint at the CONCACAF level to ensure both Slingerz and Alpha participated.
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