Blatter concerned over football situation in Guyana
CARIBBEAN Football Union (CFU) executive member Colin Klass has returned home after participating in a meeting of the governing body's Futsal Committee and briefing president Sepp Blatter on developments affecting the sport locally. The meeting was held at FIFA headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland. The Futsal Committee is tasked with overseeing and promoting variants of the traditional game i.e. beach, indoor and outdoor five-a-side football. The committee meeting on April 13 and 14 approved the revised laws of the game and reviewed preparations for the IV FIFA Futsal World Championship in Guatemala in November. FIFA general secretary, Michel Zen-Ruffinen, in a preface to the new edition of the laws of the game, pointed to the "extraordinary success" of the 3rd FIFA Futsal World Championship in Spain in 1966 and said this was "obvious evidence of the huge progress which this sport has made in the past few years and certain proof of its undeniable popularity and enormous future potential". He stressed FIFA's "unremitting commitment" to this branch of the game and said that the revised laws "are designed to fulfil our essential responsibility of guaranteeing Futsal's development through fair competition, appealing play and the physical well-being of participants and spectators alike". Klass is the only representative from the English-speaking Caribbean on the 15-man committee headed by the president of the Brazilian Football Federation, Ricardo Terra Teixeira. As the newest member he was given the FIFA gold pin at a special ceremony at which president Blatter officiated. He feels a special responsibility in ensuring that the Futsal game takes off in Guyana and the region. Based on Klass' assessment, Guyana has the potential to make its presence felt in the indoor and outdoor five-a-side aspects of Futsal and he will be working diligently to ensure that this happens. The executive of the Guyana Football Federation of which Klass is president is presently debarred from carrying out its duties by a court injunction resulting from a challenge to the conduct of the elections. Klass said Blatter was "most upset" about the negative effects the situation was having on football in Guyana," and particularly the young people". Blatter is hoping for a speedy and positive resolution so FIFA can resume a "constructive and meaningful" involvement with Guyana. 
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