St Kitts-Nevis international striker Keith Gumbs sets the record straight
caribbeannetnews.com
The most prolific scorer in Caribbean football history and former Newtown United and St.Kitts-Nevis national team player Keith 'Kayamba' Gumbs cleared the air surrounding his availability for the St.Kitts-Nevis team over the last three years as well as the upcoming world cup qualifying match against Belize.
Keith “Kayamba” Gumbs In a letter sent to the press Gumbs stated that he never retired from the national team but instead resigned on two separate occasions. According to the letter Gumbs stated that he had no other option but to resign in the first instance due to a lack of respect for the senior players, and in the second, for the National Team’s inarticulate reasons for disqualifying him from the match against Mexico.
The letter went on to say that the Indonesia League All Star was called to a meeting where he was persuaded to return to service and participate in the world cup qualifiers for 2006. St Kitts/ Nevis qualified for the first time to the CONCACAF semi final for the World Cup, and were placed in a group with Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago and St Vincent and the Grenadines.
Along with the National Team, Kayamba and other senior players engaged St Vincent and Trinidad in home and away matches, only to be excluded with little feedback, from the following match against Mexico.
At this time, the match was to be historic, for St Kitts and Nevis had yet to face a more prominent team. Gumbs, who had served with the National Team for 15 years, as had many of the senior players who were also deemed ineligible to play, were at a loss as to why the Football Association found their performances unsatisfactory for inclusion in the match.
The letter stated that Gumbs continues to question why, after the significant effort to beg his return, and after his own efforts in helping the team to reach to that stage, he was so unashamedly disqualified. In addition, the players were uninformed and overlooked. An explanation as to how this decision was reached was never specified.
The reasons given were instead aired on radio, which illustrated the deep disrespect Gumbs and the other players confronted now and had in the past. The reasons themselves amounted only to brittle excuses such as travel expenses, age and fitness and lacked rationality when compared with player performance and authentic figures for expenses.
Again, on the eve of the game against Mexico, Gumbs chose to resign. On each occasion he did so quietly and with respect for his love of St Kitts football. At no time after the second resignation, did he receive acknowledgement or appreciation for the term of his participation with the St Kitts/ Nevis National Team.
Gumbs is now 35 years and six months, playing professional football at a level not seen in St Kitts/ Nevis. He has played every game since he signed his contract in the second half of the league, scoring 18 goals in 26 games, leading to a double win for his team and the first time for a double in Indonesian football.
Gumbs has returned to St Kitts for his season break and was approached to play for the National Team, once again.
“In light of two resignations and a yet to be acknowledged 15 years of service, I could not accept the invitation in good faith and declined on the basis of other commitments,” Gumbs said.
“When people have asked why Kayamba is not going to play in the upcoming match against Belize, I have heard it said on radio, several times, that he is in retirement. This comes as a complete shock to me, as I have had the pleasure of watching Kayamba in full stadiums over the last seven to eight months performing at the very top of his football career,” said Lauren Sexton .
“I did not retire. I resigned. I love St Kitts and I love representing my country in National Team games, I still continue to represent my country worldwide and I have no intention of undermining my principles by returning to the St.Kitts-Nevis National Team,” Gumbs said in the statement.
Gumbs is undoubtedly the most successful and most talented footballer out of St.Kitts-Nevis. He currently plays as a striker for the Liga Indonesia side Sriwijaya FC. Due to extensive newspaper and media coverage, his arrival in Indonesia was met with much enthusiasm from the Singamania fans and he has proven a hugely popular player. H e has played with professional teams around the world including Happy Valley FC (Hong Kong League), Sabah Rhinos (Malaysia), Kitchee (Hong Kong) and Panathanaikos (Greece).
Gumbs has represented St.Kitts-Nevis 131 times, scoring 47 goals in the process. He also played more than 150 games for Newtown United FC, scoring almost 200 goals. Gumbs is the only St.Kitts player to have won the Top Scorer Award six consecutive years and Best Striker Award seven consecutive years.
