Some of Football woes to be addressed

President of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Football Federation Joseph Delves is confident that the proposed restructuring of Football competitions here will see an end to the free movement of players, which occurs in spite of the transfer regulations which are in place.{{more}}

The SVGFF and its affiliates met last Saturday morning at the Media Centre of the Arnos Vale Playing Field to discuss the best way forward for the sport.

It was with unanimity that the affiliates present chose the option, where the aim of competitions will be to focus on the clubs.

Delves, speaking to SEARCHLIGHT last Wednesday morning, said: “We are restructuring the way competitions are run and we are going to get to the root of the problem”.

He said that with this emphasis on clubs in place, it will be difficult for players to have a free reign, as the organisational structure of the clubs will negate this.

At present, players are flouting the ruling of alignment to one club/team, with eligibility to play in two leagues, with their club/team.

“When this national club competition is taking place, no other league can operate, which will make the system easier to monitor,” Delves stated.

An optimistic Delves said he envisages that with things in place, “the transfers could have a commercial value”.

The football boss is not throwing out the possibility that players from neighboring territories could be part of clubs here.

The SVGFF is proposing to have 10 to 12 “elite clubs”.

The club must be duly registered as a legal entity, and have a management structure that is separate from the ownership structure.

Clubs must have a functional technical staff, including certified coaches, trainers, among other support staff.

This new emphasis on the clubs, as proposed, should be in place by the second half of 2009.

Delves revealed that his organisation is currently working on some possible financial packages for the clubs to assist them in the initial stages.

He also sees a change in the culture to facilitate this move, including the merger of some clubs and the collapsing of some leagues.

The SVGFF’s focus is to encourage the formation and sustainability of strong clubs to play in all the divisions and which can play and succeed at regional and international competitions.

The new structure will see a national First Division, with two clubs demoted and two promoted from the second division. The top division should see the utilisation of the best facilities, the Victoria Park and Arnos Vale playing field.

Fifteen clubs will be part of the second division. Two clubs at the end of the national competitions will be demoted to the A leagues, while the two top clubs go to the first division, replacing the two bottom clubs. Sion Hill, Campden Park and other community playing fields, are the proposed venues for the hosting of A leagues’ matches.

The A leagues, according to the proposals, must have a minimum of three divisions, men, youth and women.

The proposal also makes space for the out of season competitions for those who do not prefer the competition aspect.

But Delves is cognisant that many of his team’s plans hinge on the availability of the limited number of playing fields.

He said that the new proposals for the competitions are just one part of the Strategic plans of the SVGFF.

“We are planning seminars for officials, coaches, referees”, Delves added.

He referred the present state of officiating as being in “poor health”, and said that a lot of time and energy will be spent on this aspect.

This latest effort to streamline operations of Football in St. Vincent and the Grenadines adds to a long list of stops and starts, with no one seeming to get it right.

At Saturday’s meeting, also on the table were the options where the focus on leagues and the other a nation wide league.

Delves promised that his organisation will take the new proposals to the clubs, leagues and the corporate community.(RT)