By Treiston Joseph
“Me, Odinga Lumumba, will not participate in football as long as Mr. (Wayne) Forde is President (of the Guyana Football Federation),” were the words of the President of Alpha ‘The Hammer’ United Football Club during an exclusive interview with News Room Sport on Friday.
Lumumba’s comment comes on the heels of CONCACAF’s decision to debar his club and Slingerz FC from participating in the 2017 Caribbean Club Championship. Lumumba also shared his thoughts on the ruling.
“Well I don’t know, we qualified last year; our qualification had nothing to do with the reason [and] status…we took a position four clubs that we weren’t participating because the rules was being abused and there was a misinterpretation of the rules and we called for CONCACAF or FIFA to resolve this issue.
“I think it’s unfortunate that they seek to resolve it in a punitive manner, but they’re the ones who run football so my present position is that I will not participate in any football tournament under the present leadership of Mr. Forde,” Lumumba shared.
Alpha United and Slingerz FC have been debarred from the tournament despite qualifying by finishing winners and runners-up respectively in the 2015/2016 season of the Stag Elite League.
However, the ban came about because CONCACAF reserves the right to debar any club from the tournament which is not in good standing with its federation or CONCACAF itself.
Both clubs, along with Pele FC and the Georgetown Football Club, fell out of favour with the GFF because of an executive decision by the GFF to extend the league from eight to 10 teams without holding a GFF congress.
In addition, CONCACAF also noted the GFF’s executive committee has the constitutional authority to modify the league. Meanwhile, Lumumba, who is said to spend more than one million dollars on his squad every month, also shared his opinion on the effect his stance would have on the team.
“I’m sure it will affect them in a negative manner, but Mr Forde will solve it, he seems to have all the answers,” Lumumba opined. Nevertheless, the future for one of the most dominant clubs in recent years is beginning to look gloomy.
