The discipline football has attracted quite a lot of media coverage this year. On a positive side, the GFF managed to attract FIFA's head Sepp Blatter to these shores and there were numerous other developments in football locally. Stabroek News' Steve Ninvalle managed to acquire an exclusive interview with GFF head Colin Klass about the past year and what he envisages for the future.
SN: How would you describe 2001 as it relates to football in Guyana?
CK: 2001 was an eventful year for football. One cannot really categorise it as being good or bad and that's why I used the term eventful. There are a number of things that happened during the year that were good and some bad. I think that the high point of 2001 was the visit of FIFA president Sepp Blatter to Guyana. It was and opportune time for Guyana to present it self to the highest forum of football in the world. We had an opportunity then for him to have a first hand look at what the state of our football, infrastructure and what kind of assistance they could give us. This I think was a turning point because after his visit here our relationship with FIFA got better. He got a better understanding of Guyana and its needs. The GFF was able to expose administrators to training. Apart from that our referees received training at the highest level. For example, courses were conducted at the Centre of Excellence in Trinidad for coaches and referees. In 2001 we were also able to address the issue of school football. We had two training programmes one in which the Technical Director of CONCACAF Marcus Felopa conducting. In excess of 20 teachers were trained. That is proprietary work in order to launch out in all the regions. Football has been tapping into every region in this country. This programme will ensure that there is an educational balance in the development of our footballers of the future. On the down side was the situation with the stadium. I still think that there is definitely a number of misconceptions as far at this concerned. I would not want to delve to deep into this since it has its legal ramifications. What I can say is that the stadium is still a reality. The facility is a reality. We are finalising all the arrangements so that we will have a facility where international football can be played, spectators can be comfortable and where training can be more effective as far as preparation of our teams is concerned. We believe that this facility would be something that all Guyana will be proud of. We expect that in another two weeks or so we will have the confirmation. Also in 2001 there was an audit done by FIFA. I need to emphasise that FIFA finance is not given to Guyana for us to do as we please. The finance has to first be applied for and based on your submission then it goes to a committee which approves it. If FIFA is not satisfied with how the first grant was spent, then they would not give another. I'm happy to say that we were audited by FIFA and at the end president Blatter said that he and FIFA are satisfied with the stewardship of the GFF. The largest donor the GFF has is FIFA. We have been able to account to FIFA. In everything there are high points and low points. We are going to use the low points to get to the high points.
SN: Is the land at University of Guyana still set aside for the building of the football facility.
CK: To the best of my knowledge we have never been informed of any changes. We have not been informed that the land is no longer available.
SN: What are some of your projections for the upcoming year.
CK: The goal is to see Guyana's football realise a facility of its own. A place where our players would be familiar with and can call home. We had made a promise to have a technical director her by September 2001. Because we are making an effort to try and identify the best possible candidate it has taken some time. However, we have confirmed with two persons out of Brazil and one from Yugoslavia. These persons will be here in January for interviews then the selection will be made. So it is safe to say that the technical director will be in place by the first quarter of 2002. Also in January of the coming year Keith Look-Loy the coordinator of the FIFA Goal Project will be visiting Guyana. He will be here to look at the state of readiness so that approval could be given for the first grant to be provided in February. We have set aside the first part of January as a rest period for our senior players. We will not be granting permission for any senior tournaments. During that time we will concentrate of youth football. We will also be travelling to Barbados to play three matches there. Their season is opening on January 11 and we will be sending an Under-21 team. The opportunity will be taken to kick off our Olympic preparation. Our women will be going to Antigua next month to play in a tournament there. This will be used to develop women's football. FIFA funds has been allocated for the women and it has to be used for that. The tournament has been started by the Caribbean Football Union to help to develop football in this territory. Apart from Trinidad and Jamaica most of the other countries don't have a strong representation when it come s to women's football. The focus is not who defeats who by 21-0 but rather that you have to start somewhere. We have made many false starts. President Blatter has stated that the future of football is with the females. If we don't get on board now then we may not be part of that future. In addition we have planned a number of events to celebrate the 100 years of organised football in Guyana. We are working to have Pele come for one of the programmes. I wish to take this opportunity to thank all those who have and even those who have not supported us during this year. May they have a prosperous new year.