“Locals lose out with club championship non-participation”
With the recent turn of events as it relates to the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) via President, Wayne Forde terming their relation with four local clubs as “not in good standing”, General Manager of one of the leading clubs, Slingerz FC, Colin “BL” Aaron has stated that the effect of this will be detrimental to a lot of the players.
Because of the stance with the GFF, Slingerz FC and Alpha United will not participate in the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) Club Championship 2017 after finishing first and second respectively in the first stanza of Stag Elite League.
Slingerz General Manager, Colin “BL” Aaron
Similarly, “BL” reiterated the point that because of their standing with the GFF, the clubs will have no choice but to be forced into dissolution, ultimately affecting the sport but specifically affecting the players who earn a living from the sport.
According to the Slingerz boss, “I will not disclose players by name or anything but we have players who working as much as $400,000 a month,” making a comparison to most of the country, pointing out that “a lot of workers don’t get that.”
He further stated that “the least a player earns with us [Slingerz] is $100,000 a month” and with the clubs being forced into dissolution, it will mean that “some of them will have no means of putting food on the table and that is what Mr. Forde will have to live with.”
However, Aaron indicated that Forde had once commended the owners of the clubs for doing what a lot of investors had been running from for the past few years.
While it may mean that the relationship and to a larger extent the sport as it stands presently may be in turmoil, “BL” is of the opinion that credit must be given where due and the owners of these clubs have done something commendable and
President of the GFF, Wayne Forde
regardless of which side you believe in, “you have to respect what the guys were doing, they were doing something to help develop Guyana Football as well as to allow the players to go out and let people see them and land a big contract.”
He related to the ever so common state of sports in the country whereby a player has to go to work and then come home, hurry and make it to practice which is not the case with his team where football is their livelihood.
The genesis of this development began when Alpha United FC and Slingerz FC, along with two other clubs (Pele FC and Georgetown FC), objected to the expansion of the Elite League.
“Subsequently, the GFF engaged in extensive consultations and negotiations with the clubs in question in an effort to address their concerns. These consultations proved futile and the GFF reached out to CONCACAF who then provided comprehensive constitutional guidance that confirm the GFF’s authority to draw up regulations governing the conditions of participation and staging of competitions organized by the Federation. This interpretation by CONCACAF, sent to the Clubs on November 24, 2016, was acknowledged by the clubs but not contested.”
The local football authority subsequently issued a statement indicating that “CONCACAF ruled that because the clubs are not in good standing with the GFF, in accordance with Section 111 art. L, of the Caribbean Cup Championship Regulations, and with the aim of properly safeguarding the integrity, smooth operation and running of the competition, (we inform you that) Alpha United Football Club and Slingerz Football Club are not eligible to participate in the 2017 edition of the Caribbean Club Championship.”
