Sport Minister welcomes football resolution

Sport Minister Dr Frank Anthony said he hopes the agreement met between the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) and the Georgetown Football Association (GFA) sparks “real development” of the game in Guyana.
The two sides reached the agreement after a series of meetings with representatives of FIFA and CONCACAF last Thursday and it has found favour with Anthony.
Following recommendations provided by a five-member delegation from football’s world governing body, FIFA, and CONCACAF, the GFF and GFA were able to find common ground, reconciling their differences in the interest of the game.
The visit of the combined team was prompted by a court matter instituted by the GFA against the GFF, and which resulted in the polarisation of aspects of football for more than a year in Guyana.
In an invited comment over the weekend, Dr Anthony said he is delighted that the parties have buried the hatchet and are keen on working together for the good of the game. “We’re very pleased that this has happened…the matter has been resolved. We hope that from now on there will be real development of football across the country,” the minister envisaged.
After various meetings involving CONCACAF President Jeffrey Webb, lawyer Bruce Blake, Director of Public Affairs Felicitas Colombo, and FIFA representatives, Thierry Regenass and Marco Leal and the local stakeholders, it was agreed that the GFA will withdraw the injunction against the GFF, while the GFF will recognise the GFA as a full member and reinstate their voting rights, among other points.
In addition, the GFA has agreed to hold its Electoral Congress by January 19, 2013, while the GFF has acceded to staging its annual Ordinary Congress by April 15, 2013, at which time elections for its Executive Committee will be held.
Working Together
Before the start of deliberations last Thursday, Webb and local officials, Wilson and Aubrey ‘Shanghai’ Major, had paid a courtesy call on Sport Minister Dr Frank Anthony at his Main Street office, where matters relating to the way forward for the game were discussed.
“I had a good discussion with the President of CONCACAF and some of the things we would have discussed related to how do we move forward. So I’m very optimistic and I would like to say that I think what FIFA has done and what CONCACAF has done is commendable and this is how regional and international governing organisations ought to behave with their local affiliates,” the minister pointed out.
Dr Anthony said his ministry is keen on working together with the GFF and its affiliates to ensure growth and development of football. He added that with the state-of-the-art football field soon to be completed in the centre of the synthetic track at Leonora, West Coast Demerara, his ministry will be looking for more collaboration with stakeholders in the football fraternity.
“We’ve already spoken to the GFF about how we can partner in the utilisation of this facility and we will be meeting with them shortly on the way forward. We have also spoken to them about the first Gold Project that is still incomplete and our hope is that they can fix that and we can move on from here, and have other such projects coming to Guyana.”
Solving Cricket
In lauding FIFA and CONCACAF for their successful intervention in football, minister Anthony said that if the West Indies Cricket Board, the governing body for cricket in the Caribbean, had done same, then the ‘gentleman’s game’ would have been in a healthier state.
“I hope that this would be a good example for the West Indies Cricket Board, because if they had come in and done an intervention like this, many of the issues that we have relating to cricket being administered properly would have been resolved by now. Unfortunately, they haven’t done that,” Dr Anthony commented.