While the FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s visit to Guyana would be welcomed in the context of the commissioning of a mini pitch at Haslington with others in the works, it was to be hoped that the local football federation and the government would have exercised restraint in their engagement with him in light of his scandalous proposal earlier this year to sell off a part of the sport to investors.
Unfortunately, if the Guyana public was unaware of where the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) and the Guyana Government stood on this issue, as Mr Infantino bids for a fourth term in March, all was revealed yesterday as he was feted by both as if they were completely unaware of the failed FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposal which left his presidency in tatters with calls for his resignation particularly from UEFA.
Accompanied by FIFA and GFF officials, Mr Infantino sat before President Ali at State House to hear encomiums about his humility, boldness and how he was a “legend” of smaller countries and a legend of bridging the gap. There was not a hint of concern by the President or at the GFF event as to the controversy over the FFE and planned profiteering off the sport. Even if words might have been expressed privately to Mr Infantino they would have been completely overshadowed by the laudatory words in public about his leadership.
Rather ill-advisedly, President Ali compounded the failure to hold Mr Infantino accountable by making a crude pitch for the hosting of a world class football tournament here. The President said: “Another important aspect of our long-term plan is to see how we can be part of a development programme that brings with it a tournament that is world class. A tournament that will create a type of attraction and interest that will drive football not only here but in the entire region”.
That is exactly the type of wheeling and dealing invitation that Mr Infantino’s ridiculed FFE had been seeking to cultivate and the FIFA President must have felt a tad uncomfortable as the President spoke. The President went on to say that he wanted discussions on this matter before the end of the year and that Guyana needed a tournament to command the attention of the Western Hemisphere. This is the same type of philosophy that the President has sought to imbue in the cricketing Global Super League which has seen anaemic interest.
It cannot be that President Ali is oblivious to the furore over the FFE. His failure to at least hint at awareness of the internal difficulties currently facing FIFA and the sport reflected disdain for good governance and a proclivity to deal-making no matter the moral or legal qualms that exist. It was an irresponsible performance by the President and one that further marks his government as disinterested in high standards of conduct.
In recent months, Mr Infantino has managed to mobilize support for a fourth term from the Asian and African confederations and his visit to this region is no doubt meant to shore up support among CONCACAF members who were divided on the issue of the FFE.
In recent days a candidate from Japan has thrown his hat into the ring for the elections next year. Hopefully the elections next year will result in a firm rebuke of what Mr Infantino had so audaciously tried to do to the sport notwithstanding his public apology. In the meanwhile the Government of the Guyana and the GFF have presented themselves as completely at ease with the shenanigans that were introduced by the FIFA President and which could have remade the sport into one solely about money and billionaires to the detriment of the grassroots and ironically small countries like Guyana.
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