By Treiston Joseph
The Wayne Forde-led Guyana Football Federation (GFF) received a vote of confidence from FIFA boss Gianni Infantino at a press conference held on April 11 during his brief visit to Guyana. However, just before making comments on the GFF, Infantino revealed his summed-up report of football in Guyana after his various meetings.
“It’s fantastic to be in this country as well because I’ve been able to witness this morning here in the different meetings that I had but also the discussions with my friend Wayne (Forde) here that this country has a real football passion. I know that cricket is also popular here, but you know it’s just a question of time until football is clearly the number one sport, why?
“Well because it is a great sport, because it brings a lot of values in addition to only being a sport and because now with this new GFF and with the new FIFA we are seriously investing much more into football development in this country,” Infantino stated.
However, Infantino was greeted at the Pegasus Hotel by a small peaceful protest led by Faizal Khan, but declared that FIFA is in full support of the GFF and its operations.
“We are in very, very, very close contact with Wayne and the GFF administration and you know somebody might have different views on how football is ran, but what I can say is that Wayne and his team are making really a difference today certainly compared to the past but also looking forward, looking to the future this is certainly the way to go.
“Every criticism is obviously welcomed as long as it is not just to destroy, but to build and you know we are always listening and we are always learning and are always improve and we all make mistakes… but we want to do good and we have football close to our heart and that’s the most important thing,” Infantino stressed.
In addition, Infantino revealed that not just Guyana but the region has been receiving triple the amount of money compared to previous years in order to improve the state of the game; a whopping US$1.25M per year, according to Infantino.
Nevertheless, the GFF boss noted that strict guidelines in terms of transparency and conditions for the money have to be followed for which he acknowledged that the GFF has fully embraced.
Meanwhile, Forde noted that his organisation will continue to work along with FIFA in order to produce great results, noting that the development of the sport is more important above all else.
Infantino noted that the task of ensuring the construction of the Forward Project, better known as the Goal Project, will be left upon the shoulders of the Forde administration.
