Dear Editor,

It is out of concern that I pen this letter after I read a letter in the two print media signed by our Director of Sports, Mr. Neil Kumar.

Firstly, Mr. Kumar was Director of Sports since 1992, what can he say he has done to promote sports and improve same. Imagine a leaking Sports Hall that is giving them the works to fix, when rain falls, indoor games are affected. Ask the basketballers and volleyballers, even overseas teams have been affected. Has the National Sports Council (NSC) constructed any new facility. Oh! The gymnasium is in a mess. Nine years of continued tragedy. The cleaners at these two sporting facilities see hell to acquire cleaning stuff. I wonder why Mr de Abreu resigned as Chairman of the NSC. Was it due to the NSC's inability to do extensive repairs on the building in Woolford Avenue or out of frustration?

The NSC recently employed a female sports organiser who is computer qualified, she was never in a sports club, never played a game in her life. The NSC is running one of the most poorly organized football tournaments in Guyana. The Coca Cola School is a catastrophe, teams play without uniform, without shin pads, without proper balls and without proper referees. The appointed person, who does the function as referee, stands in the middle of the field like an umpire and blows the whistle. And the Director has the nerve to say this is properly organized. How can these poor footballers improve? When they branch off to clubs the bad habits inculcated are still there, hence they are fed to the national grid as sub standard players and one wants to know what the GFF is doing. Is Banks DIH aware of the inefficiencies that transpire in this popular sport? Some of the school heads are embarrassed.

The NSC only has one coach who was employed this year and he was trained by the GFF. He was given two balls to coach hundreds of youths. When Mr. Kumar was out of the country the PS, Min of Sports had to instruct that the store room at the Sports Hall be broken into and fifteen balls were handed to the coach for him to develop the sport. When Mr Kumar came back he nearly hit the roof. Also, these training sessions are held without water or ice for these small boys.

The NSC should take some of the money they have and build stands at the GFF so that the sport could progress, that is part of Sports Development.

Yours faithfully,

Imran Khan