President of Guyana has to take decisive action against WICB

June 5, 2014 | By KaiteurNews |  Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

Yesterday morning, I received an overseas call on my cell, the voice said; “Freddie Kissoon, right?” I confirmed my identity and the speaker said, “You will receive shortly a number of e-mails and original documents; use as you see fit, thank you.” Before he could put down the phone, I yelled, “Wait a minute; that is not the way it works; I will need to know if those documents and e-mails are authentic, you have to satisfy me on this.”
Names and numbers were given to me both for the West Indian Cricket Board (WICB) and their local contacts here. I did my research the entire Wednesday morning, talked to people both in the WICB and the local board here.
What is revealed in this column is tragic not for cricket only, but also for the Guyanese people. More and more, the Guyanese people are seeing how destructive the PPP leadership is but they continue to remain helpless. I am convinced after reading those documents, seeing those e-mails and the conversations I had on the phone, that the WICB is so angry at the Guyana Government (GG) that unless there is a radical turn around by the government, cricket will die in Guyana.
I cannot name names but it is for the readers to read between the lines to ascertain the positions of the people I talked to in the WICB. It was crystal clear to me that I was contacted to write a column not on cricket but on how the WICB sees certain types of leaders in Guyana.
It was plain for me to see that the WICB has little respect for certain high people in the Guyana Government because they think such people unprincipled.
This was how it was put to me. “Mr. Kissoon, your government will not honour any undertaking they give you.” When those words were said to me, I remember Machiavelli’s famous saying, “Man, at the first prompting of self-interest, will break his bond of obligation.”
There are persons in the WICB who believe that the leaders of Guyana are so uncompromising that they will destroy cricket in Guyana for political interests. I quote from one of the confidential documents from the WI Board dated May 30, 2014 to President Ramotar; “The WICB has agreed to keep all arrangements in Guyana in place pending receipt from you of an undertaking not to sign the Bill into law until these matters and any others which may be raised by the WICB/or GCB are agreed. We look forward to your positive response by 6.00 pm.”
The government replied immediately with a letter. I quote from this authentic confidential document; “In the best interest of cricket, the undertaking which you request is hereby given… it is our hope that matter (sic) will conclude in a manner that will serve the best interest of cricket in Guyana and the region.”
I was told by very informative persons in the WICB that from the moment that letter was dispatched, very powerful people in the Government have treated the WICB leadership with total contempt. WICB personnel were lied to, pushed around and ignored. One important WICB director said in a West Indian accent that I like, “Mr. Kissoon, they have no intention of sticking to what they said in that letter.”
Now here is an angle that all Guyanese will find intriguing. I was told by this important WICB official that while calls and e-mails were being exchanged between the government and WICB, a strange incident happened. The ex-Champion of Guyana (I said I am not calling names) contacted the WICB and assured its leadership that it will get a letter signed by President Ramotar with the agreement that the Bill will not be signed into law until vexed issues are resolved.
At this point the matter had come to an end. Test cricket will go ahead. But here is what happened. The WICB then was told by phone that the letter is coming and will be signed by the Sports Minister. The WICB was livid. It specifically pointed to the words of the ex-Champion that President Ramotar will sign. The WICB wanted Ramotar’s signature only.
The WICB was further told that if it felt this way, President Ramotar will sign. The Ramotar signed letter never appeared. The WICB believes that there was never any intention by the GG to send such a letter. What happened? My Guyanese sources told me that there is a power struggle in the PPP and the ex-Champion was using the cricket fiasco to enhance his credibility but was quickly chopped down.
Cricket in Guyana has been chopped down too.