Lumumba says GFF has lost the right to govern football
By Leeron Brumell
Guyana Chronicle
August 14, 2004
CHAIRMAN of the Standing Committee of the Guyana Football League (GFL), Odinga Lumumba, yesterday disclosed that the executives of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) should no longer govern the sport in the country.
Speaking at a press conference at the Waterchris Hotel, Lumumba said that this view has the full backing of the other committee members Cecil Jacques, Marlan Cole and Paula Sampson.
According to Lumumba, “our struggle is for democracy against dictatorship. The GFL must not be exempted from some of the foolishness that has occurred in football. We deserve some licks as a league but because an executive of a club or an association fails to be competent and carry out his mandate you cannot use that as a reason to deny the constitutional rights of the clubs and the general council.”
He further added that the GFF said that the only reason why they had to abolish the GFL was because the clubs were not in order constitutionally.
“The rules are too harsh and we need to work as a body to change them, but I’m not saying that you have to break the rules but rules must be applied consistently and across the board.
“You cannot say that the GFL is not qualified because they have breached the rules, but throughout Guyana others were allowed to vote and participate in GFF elections and their registration, electoral and the constitutional process incomplete. So on that basis we have taken the position that the GFF is an unconstitutional body and has lost its right to govern football.”
Lumumba said that the GFF had also dismissed the GFL executives because of some financial management problems and he is prepared to take the GFF to task in the coming week when a CONCACAF official will be here to investigate the complaints made by the GFL.
“We are prepared at the right time to list several financial problems with the GFF and how they have managed their finances, and at the same time, if that’s the reason they removed the executives of the GFL they should have simultaneously removed themselves from office.”
He said even though the executives were removed it cannot remove the General Council body since it is a permanent body.
The GFF he continued should have called the clubs together to discuss the matter, thus it was unconstitutional, arrogant and foolish for the GFF to impose a group on the GFL without consultation.
Lumumba said that they wrote to the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) on the matter of mediation, who in turn wrote the GFF and the GFL, indicating its willingness to be mediators, but the GFF did not approve.
Lumumba said he then contacted CONCACAF.
He is now calling for mediation between the GFF and GFL and Harold Taylor, general secretary of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) and deputy secretary general of CONCACAF had been appointed sole commissioner to investigate and report fully on all issues in football.
Taylor will be here from Monday to Wednesday where he will meet executives of the GFF and GFL and any interested person(s), clubs or associations to carry out his investigation.
The Standing Committee chairman said that they are seeking a few conditions to be resolved by Taylor upon his visit.
They are: restoration of the GFL to the former state of independence, new elections for the GFF executives and in the interim the CFU to establish a neutral committee to administer football. There must be the involvement of the GFL and all affiliates in the policy decisions of the GFF, in relation to any FIFA subvention in Guyana.