Alignment with FIFA, CONCACAF played key role in GFF statute revision

By Jemima Holmes

In the past few weeks, opinions were tabled and contentions were made as to why the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) were moving to revise their statutes. Now with the Extraordinary Congress occurring, which would create the platform for the revision of those statutes, the GFF are contending that the exercise was essential to the transformation and growth of the sport in Guyana.

“The statute-revision process is one that is essential to establishing a firm and sturdy platform for Guyana’s football. We believe that the football machinery across the globe is being modernised, and it’s important that our statutes give us opportunity to modernise our football and to grow at the pace that the other parts of the world are in fact growing,” GFF President Wayne Forde shared on Saturday.

During this very press briefing, held at the GFF’s National Training Center at Providence, EBD following the Congress, Forde assured that every move made by the GFF has been in alignment with governing bodies such as FIFA and CONCACAF.
Forde disclosed, “I think one of the points that I really should emphasise is that, throughout this entire process, we had the full support, guidance and oversight of FIFA and CONCACAF. There is no stage in this revision process that the GFF acted outside of the oversight or involvement of FIFA and CONCACAF, to the extent that the final draft of the statutes that was sent to the members was also sent to FIFA and CONCACAF for the legal team to examine,” Forde declared on Saturday.
“To examine it and to ensure that even the suggestions and the amendments that came from membership during the consultation did not stray from the alignment that FIFA and CONCACAF sought to achieve in the revision of the statutes.”
For context, the revised statutes should be shared. According to a missive from the GFF, those statutes include:
• All 10 Elite League clubs will be GFF members
• Provision has been made for the Barima-Waini Football Association (BWFA) to become
the 10th GFF regional association
• Limits on presidential service of three total terms in office, to align with FIFA and Concacaf term limits and reforms
• GFF Council must contain at least two female members
In stark contrast to the uproar that was made regarding revision of the statutes, the amended statutes were passed without controversy. In fact, it has been reported that the statute revision was well received, with 13 members voting for the change, one abstaining, and one voting against those changes.
Continuing the conversation about statutes’ alignment, and zeroing in on the belief that Guyana is the only nation revising its statutes, One CONCACAF’s Howard McIntosh elaborated on the exercise taking place in all countries under FIFA.
“There are some members of your fraternity that speak to the fact that the statutes are being done for some other reason than the reason that it is being done for. This is not an exercise unique to Guyana at all,” McIntosh disclosed.
“To the contrary, all 211 countries within FIFA and 41 countries in CONCACAF have to do this alignment. It’s really an alignment with international best practices that allow for good governance; it’s really very simple and very straightforward,” he declared. “So, there are some standard statutes that are missing from all of the countries that will now be included in all of the statutes approved by the various countries, and as is the case of Guyana today,” McIntosh added.
He cautioned the Federation thus, “But with it comes responsibility. First responsibility goes to the GFF, to ensure that they continue their practice of good governance as one of their major objectives. And we believe that this will help them do that.”

‘Pushback’
It is by now no secret that the GFF’s move to revise their statutes has received much opposition from those in football spaces across the country and in the diaspora. The fact that FIFA’s presidency term-limit spans three renewals has caused lots of ‘third-term’ talk.
However, while the ‘third term’ topic still lingers over Saturday’s successful exercise, and while opinions are being formed in various spheres of the media, CONCACAF’s McIntosh has said he is not afraid of the ‘pushback’.
McIntosh said, “Part of the challenge that we have sometimes is when you try to be transparent, people think that there are other motives at play. Discussion, pushback, that’s part of the process. What is important is that, in the conclusion of the process, people understand the objective, understand why it is there, and how to use it going forward.
“So, pushback is part of the process. Discussion is also a part of the process, and consultation is a natural part of the process; all of which did occur in Guyana,” he concluded.
President Forde likewise exhibited no qualms with members, and even those outside the Federation, having differing opinions. He stated, “This is nothing new to us, we do not have a gag order on our members. What we expect, at a minimum, (is) that they will be courteous and they will utilise those channels of protocol that exist to them, where they can bring those concerns directly to the administration or to the Executive, and we can trash it and hopefully find some common ground.
“But this football is one that the members are the drivers of this business. Federation leadership is here to serve the best wishes of the members, and the statutes that are here today improve that dynamic,” Forde said.
Forde has said that what he is concerned about is the presentation of facts, and debating such. “I think the first thing that I want is for any individual, whether they are a member, a member of the public, or a fan, to register their concern from a position of fact, and that requires reading and understanding. Not from a position of someone said something and you are now influenced by that. Because if we are having conversations on facts, then I believe that will be a very productive conversation,” he explained.
“What I do encourage is people who read to ask relevant questions, and let’s come and get the answers cause they’re there, whether at GFF level, CONCACAF level, or at FIFA,” McIntosh remarked about having to debate the intention and contents of the GFF’s now revised statutes.