`The GFF is broke'

[Trini _2026]

`The GFF is broke'
-General Secretary George Rutherford
By Lloyda Nicholas
Friday, December 15th 2006
   
http://www.stabroeknews.com/index.pl/article_sports?id=56509894

The Guyana Football Federa-tion estimates that preparation for the final leg of the Digicel Football Cup will cost in excess of $20 million General Secretary George Rutherford said yesterday.

In an exclusive interview with Stabroek Sport after Technical Director of the national football squad Jamaal Shabazz revealed that the first camp has been cancelled, Rutherford said that the governing body for football was virtually penniless.

Shabazz, also in an interview with Stabroek Sport had revealed the cancellation of the first proposed camp for the national footballers in preparation for next year's Digicel Caribbean Cup football finals scheduled for Trinidad and Tobago from January 12-23.

He had stated that Guyana's success at the Digicel Caribbean Cup finals is in the hands of the Guyanese people and is urging all stakeholders to step forward and support the team.

Rutherford provided a copy of the draft budget for the team's preparation and participation which estimated a `modest' $18 million but said that costs are expected to reach way above that once all expenditure is considered.

"The GFF is broke", Rutherford said adding that if the team is to benefit from the required preparation, the private sector and the Government will have to step up.

According to the proposed budget, the first camp was expected to target 22 players over five days funding their accommodation, stipend, transportation, meals and other subsidiary costs which took the figure to in excess of $1 million.

The second encampment was to incur similar costs but the budget added the air fare for tickets of three international players and the encampment of 24 players which brought the figure to over $2 million.

A proposed encampment in Brazil (with no proposed dates) at a cost of $3.7 million is also included in the budget.

Other costs included in the budget are $6.7 million for the teams' actual participation in the Digicel Cup finals and funds for the technical staff, although Shabazz is yet to land a contract with the GFF.

However, all the planned preparatory activities are looking increasingly unlikely with the first camp already cancelled.

The GFF secretary also suggested that they may have to drop the trip to Brazil from the itinerary.

Rutherford said that the GFF has nothing in its coffers since they have done some big spending this year.

He said for those who may have questions about how the GFF has been utilising the US$250,000 annual grant they get from FIFA,…."we have to have audited accounts by a reputable firm to continue receiving those funds."

Rutherford produced au-dited reports from 1999 to 2005 done by Jack Alli and Sons which he said are proof that they have been managing their funds well.

This year's projects have included the purchasing of their office building at a cost of $13 million. Additionally, an eight-acre piece of land was also acquired for the construction of a stadium.

Rutherford disclosed that on December 3, FIFA approved the construction of that stadium and US$400,000 will be provided for that project.

The GFF have also felt the burden of hosting the Group H matches of the Digicel Caribbean Cup and are yet to receive a US$20,000 subvention from the Caribbean Football Union.

The Federation also had to bear the brunt of the cost of the Inter-association football tournament after the Guyana Oil Company pulled out of sponsoring the event because a top official, who had been negotiating with the GFF, was fired.

The GFF also funded a Women's sensitivity football programme and hired a German coach to come to Guyana to conduct a training programme in addition to their other developmental programmes, Rutherford revealed.

Despite the National team's tremen-dous jump from 852 on the FIFA ranking to 105 over the past months, Rutherford said the Federa-tion has still been unable to attract large scale sponsorship from the private sector.

"Football has had such negative publicity in the past it will take more than winning a couple of games to bring people on board," was his frank assessment of the situation.

He added that one would have thought that with the performance of the team more people would have been willing to support them.

So far, Demerara and Trinidad Mutual Life and Fire Insurance has committed to providing $50,000 and Federal Management has donated $500,000 to the GFF.

Rutherford also praised BWIA for their provision of reduced fare tickets to the association for team and official travel.

Support from Government has been meager, Rutherford said considering the costs associated with supporting the team's performance.

So far, Rutherford said, they have received waivers on the airport tax for the players and officials of the Digicel Caribbean Cup for the Group H leg of the competition and for the travel of the National team.

Further, he said, the Minister of Sport Dr. Frank Anthony, has committed to funding the costs of team blazers. Rutherford also said that the Minister had promised to provide a bus for the national team's transportation during the Digicel Cup leg in Guyana but this never materialised.

Rutherford said that the Federation is currently trying to find other sources of financing. He said that they have applied for an overdraft facility of between $3-5 million in expectation of their first quarter funds from FIFA in January.

Looking forward to the possibility that Guyana may actually qualify to the CONCACAF Gold Cup, Rutherford said that he did not know where they were going to find the money needed. He, however, said that the GFF has included in its 2007 budget to FIFA, some of the expenses associated with Guyana's possible participation.

But Rutherford noted that private sector and Govern-ment support is critical if Guyana is to get the preparation that is needed.
 

[Trini _2026]

boy things bad with them

[Israel]

wah dem complaining for, daz about $50,000 TT

[kounty]

Despite the National team's tremen-dous jump from 852 on the FIFA ranking to 105 over the past months


who could tell me what wrong with that statement?

[Bally]

]Despite the National team's tremen-dous jump from 852 on the FIFA ranking to 105 over the past months, Rutherford said the Federa-tion has still been unable to attract large scale sponsorship from the private sector.
look at this number 852

[big dawg]

Why we acting surprise that anything to do with Guyana Broke...Guyana borrow money from Trinidad since the George Chambers days and cyar pay it back up to now...

[sinned]

Despite the National team's tremen-dous jump from 852 on the FIFA ranking to 105 over the past months


who could tell me what wrong with that statement?

it doh even have 852 countries in the world...

[vb]

You gotta feel sorry for dem.

Always catching ass. They wait almost a decade for dat land.

Lose a set of players due to migration. And now when dey start to make a little progress, no money and prob. a lot more cut ass.

If this was cricket, Guyanese all over de would of gotten together and get dat money in a week.
But is football.

Well good luck to dem.

VB

[zuluwarrior]

pardna ah does be hanging with some GT barno here in bklyn and ah tellin u dem people owning plenty business  out here,and dey have plenty money to , maybe if the GFF could reach out to GT boys & girls in foreign they might help because 1US will go a long way in GT.

[weary1969]

I believe is since Eric Williams time

[zuluwarrior]

big dog panday wipe off dat ah while now , so dey doh owe we nottin any more .

[WestCoast]

Guyana
Foreign Debt
In the early 1990s, Guyana was one of the world's most heavily indebted countries. Its external debt burden was almost US$2 billion in 1990, or about seven times official GDP. The debt burden accumulated in Guyana--as in many other developing countries-- beginning in the 1970s. At first, loans were earmarked for development projects. But when rising oil prices adversely affected the balance of payments, Guyana began borrowing to finance imports. Guyana's foreign debt was unlike that of many other Latin American nations because most of it was owed to official creditors (loans from international financial organizations and foreign governments) rather than commercial institutions (loans from foreign banks). Roughly one-third of the debt was owed to the IMF and the World Bank, and one-fourth to neighboring Trinidad and Tobago. Other major creditors were the Caribbean Development Bank and Barbados.

In 1981 Burnham underlined the severity of the debt crisis when he authorized the government to stop making debt-service payments. Arrears on debt repayment and trade credits were simply allowed to accumulate. (Mexico's 1982 announcement of a similar moratorium on its much larger commercial debt sent shock waves through the international financial community.) Guyana's debt moratorium had two serious results. First, unpaid debts and interest payments compounded, leading to rapid growth in total debt. Thus, external debt increased from US$1.2 billion in 1984 to US$1.7 billion in 1987 even though Guyana received few new loans. Second, the buildup of arrears destroyed Guyana's credibility as a debtor. In 1983 the IMF refused to provide further loans; many other international organizations and governments followed suit. The loss of credibility also directly affected Guyana's trade relations: Trinidad and Tobago cut off oil shipments in 1986.

The debt crisis persisted during the 1980s as Guyana remained unable to resume debt service. The country consistently had a deficit in the overall balance of payments, and the government financed the deficit by accumulating even more arrears on debt service payments. By 1989 those arrears exceeded US$1 billion, or five times the value of annual exports. By the late 1980s, the debt crisis threatened to shut down the economy; even short-term trade credits were difficult to obtain. Venezuela began insisting on prepayment in bauxite in exchange for shipments of oil. It was mainly the debt crisis that led the government to agree to an IMFbacked austerity program in 1988.

Temporary debt relief arrived after Guyana agreed to enact the Economic Recovery Program. A Donor Support Group consisting of Guyana's major creditors (Canada, the United States, Britain, Germany, France, Venezuela, and Trinidad and Tobago) provided a bridge loan of US$180 million that enabled the government to pay off arrears to the IMF, the World Bank, and the Caribbean Development Bank. In addition, bilateral creditors agreed to reschedule major portions of Guyana's debt, such as US$460 million owed to Trinidad and Tobago. The complicated refinancing scheme, which was conditioned on rigorous economic reforms within Guyana, removed the massive arrears and allow Guyana renewed access to international financial support. The IMF and the World Bank extended new loans to Guyana in 1990 for infrastructure projects.

The restoration of Guyana's creditworthiness, however, did not signal an end to its debt problem. Interest payments on the debt were the largest expenditure in the 1990 budget. A priority for the government was to increase foreign currency earnings by expanding exports, but a large share of export revenues would have to be used to continue debt service. Thus, debt service absorbed scarce resources urgently needed for economic development. There was a possibility that Guyana would receive some measure of debt forgiveness from the United States under the Enterprise for the Americas Initiative (see Glossary), according to 1991 congressional testimony by Undersecretary of the Treasury, David Mulford. But there were few precedents for official debt forgiveness on the scale that Guyana's economy seemed to require.

Data as of January 1992
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+gy0092)


B. The External Debt Strategy During 1989-95
Debt management in Guyana until recently did not have the flexibility found in other severely indebted countries because of the structure of the external debt. Although 54 percent of Guyana's external debt is owed to bilateral creditors, it is noteworthy that Trinidad and Tobago, a middle- income and also severely indebted country, was owed more than half of the total bilateral debt.
http://www.guyana.org/NDS/chap14.htm

[RGarcia]

maybe AJW will come to the rescue such as he did with them in cricket not too long ago.

[Deeks]

Good Mornings Guys,
                          Why do we  hit up on Guyana like that. So they are in the unfortuane position. So what. They are not the only country like that. They will come thru it. Even if it is later that sooner.  In some ways they are our cousins. We came on they same ship as they say. Unfortunately the government of only spend the bare minimun on football. There are lots of wealthy business people in NY(Richmond Hill) who haVE the money to contribute but  don't care much about football.  Unfortunately, there is race factor to the situation. But only the people of Guyana could resolve this. We should be encouraging them to resolve that issue. We in TT have the same issues. Maybe not as drastic. But I take nothing for granted. The Guyanese players are good. The core of their national play in TT and one has even coached NE stars. In addition Shabazz coaching their national team. This  is a testimony that they look to TT for assistance and guidance. I see nothing wrong in that. Peace

[Coop's]

Good Mornings Guys,
                          Why do we  hit up on Guyana like that. So they are in the unfortuane position. So what. They are not the only country like that. They will come thru it. Even if it is later that sooner.  In some ways they are our cousins. We came on they same ship as they say. Unfortunately the government of only spend the bare minimun on football. There are lots of wealthy business people in NY(Richmond Hill) who haVE the money to contribute but  don't care much about football.  Unfortunately, there is race factor to the situation. But only the people of Guyana could resolve this. We should be encouraging them to resolve that issue. We in TT have the same issues. Maybe not as drastic. But I take nothing for granted. The Guyanese players are good. The core of their national play in TT and one has even coached NE stars. In addition Shabazz coaching their national team. This  is a testimony that they look to TT for assistance and guidance. I see nothing wrong in that. Peace

         
    I was just waiting for somebody to say it,well said Breds.

[Quags]

Good Mornings Guys,
                          Why do we  hit up on Guyana like that. So they are in the unfortuane position. So what. They are not the only country like that. They will come thru it. Even if it is later that sooner.  In some ways they are our cousins. We came on they same ship as they say. Unfortunately the government of only spend the bare minimun on football. There are lots of wealthy business people in NY(Richmond Hill) who haVE the money to contribute but  don't care much about football.  Unfortunately, there is race factor to the situation. But only the people of Guyana could resolve this. We should be encouraging them to resolve that issue. We in TT have the same issues. Maybe not as drastic. But I take nothing for granted. The Guyanese players are good. The core of their national play in TT and one has even coached NE stars. In addition Shabazz coaching their national team. This  is a testimony that they look to TT for assistance and guidance. I see nothing wrong in that. Peace

Nice post ..but what do you mean "why do we hit up on Guyana" ,no body made fun of them .The only reason this even relevant to the board is that there getting better ,good for them ......and they having a set back so one less treat