Slingerz, Alpha participation in CFU Club Championship in hands of CONCACAF
Slingerz Football Club and Alpha United earned the right to represent Guyana at the regional tournament after finishing first and second, respectively, in the inaugural edition of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Stag Beer Elite League.
However, controversy brew when Pele and Georgetown Football Club (GFC) together with Alpha United and Slingerz FC pulled out of the second edition of the league after the federation took a position to increase the number of teams in the
GFF President Wayne Forde
2016/2017 season.
The glooming question is now whether the qualified clubs will represent Guyana at the 2017 CONCACAF Caribbean Club Championships and according to Guyana Football Federation (GFF) President Wayne Forde the participation of the teams will be decided by CONCACAF.
Forde, at a press conference held at the GFF’s headquarters said, “The participation of the two teams, Alpha United and Slingerz is a decision that will be taken by CONCACAF. It is not a decision that the federation is expected to make because it’s not a GFF Tournament, so we await the decision of CONCACAF on that”.
Asked if sanctions will be meted out to the clubs for their non-participation in the league, Forde said, “In terms of sanctions being meted out against the clubs by the GFF, we have written to the clubs formally and indicated to them that their actions have affected their standing with the federation. Beyond that it is not expected that any further action will be taken.”
According to Forde “The board will be meeting early in the new year to discuss and figure out exactly what pathway we can show these clubs in terms of their reintegration into the sport but again in any resolution you need to have a willingness on both sides and ultimately what we want is to have the players, which is our major concern.”
“They are too many players being denied the opportunity to play football and it certainly doesn’t help them or Guyana, because some of our best players are within those teams so we are going to be identifying a course of action that we think is necessary for the reintegration at whatever level they need to return at, but that will be done early in the new year” he added.
Forde further revealed “There is no one walking back into anything, ultimately we need to show these clubs a path to reintegrate themselves into national football at whatever level the path will lead them to.”
He further added that exclusive of bans and suspensions, “They are other measures that are not necessarily bans and suspensions, I am not going to get into the specifics at this moment but the clubs have been written to and we are awaiting their response before any further action is taken.”
The regional club league which begin in August will see a total of 24 teams participating with the winners qualifying as the CONCACAF representative at the 2018 FIFA Club World Cup in the United Arab Emirates.
