“Federation’s debt not a deterrent” – GABBFF President

By Romario Samaroo

Immediately after assuming office on Saturday, newly elected president of the Guyana Amateur Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation (GABBFF), Coel Marks has announced that he and his team will not be demotivated from the task at hand because of the Federation’s debt.

Marks won the presidency of the GABBFF as the Federation held their Annual General Meeting at Olympic House, High Street, Kingston where he defeated former president Keavon Bess 17-13.
In an exclusive interview with Guyana Times Sport., the GABBFF boss confirmed that “the federation is broke, in debt, but that is not a deterrent to us.”
He highlighted that his body “undertook the task knowing fully well that this is not a rich man’s sport so we are well prepared to put our shoulders to the wheel and grind to acquire funds and to promote the sport.”
The 30 year old businessman acknowledged that it will not be easy but, according to Marks, the Federation is trying to create a nexus between the business community and the bodybuilding Federation all year round not only in sponsorships but various fund raising activities.
Looking at the new faces elected into office, the President of the Federation informed this publication that there is a very good understanding of money; therefore it will be a plus for the body to increase funding.
“Starting off the bat what we have is strong economic ties so far with our vice-president, Sean Satrohan who has very good ties with the business community, we have a very strong treasurer who is a trained economist so he understands money, how to generate it, how it moves, how it operates, so right off the bat we have a firm economic standing,” Marks said.
Also, the General Secretary of the Federation, Lisa Ahmad is a ABE lecturer at the Nations University. Moreover, Marks was inclined to say that the entire group of new executives are all self-motivated to perform well in their post even though most are first time office bearers.
With each of them bringing a different skill set, the GABBFF president mentioned that it is now possible for the federation to merge the different skills set and make the sport more formidable in the country.’
An issue that has placed the Federation under the spot light of recent was the revelation of the GABBFF being delinquent in their payments of affiliation fees to the International Bodybuilding Federation (IFBB), as such, the new president said it is the first order of business that this new executive will embark on to secure the waiver in its entirety, building on the progress already made by the past body.
The federation owes in excess of one million dollars to the IFBB and had barred Guyanese athletes from taking part in events sanctioned by the international body, but the past board had secured a deal to have the local Federation pay their fees from 2017 onwards and participate while having discussions to have the entire sum waived.