Opinions / Analysis

Fijian Soccer Leagues Pacific Cup withdrawal ahead of next month’s tournament is a lesson well learnt for the organizers.

It must serve them good on an age old cliché that  ‘All that glitters is not gold”.

The all that is in reference to the association that has now come under the scope for a string of misrepresentations.

You would think the smart many would by now stick to a single decision, at the outset was the player’s lack of interest and commitment, then consider reading the October 12 th post, which clearly puts the players' of no value.

What is beyond me is the embattled core hasn’t yet found a genuine reason for their withdrawal but continues to vary and contradict the every FSLGV Facebook posts.

The new shift is on the lack of ‘skilled’ players and the fact locals were inferior to the level of competition that was on display at the Pacific Cup, this has drawn an euphoria of criticism from some of sports best know hows and players alike.  It just doesn’t end there as the league also took a wild swipe at the standard of soccer with Sanatan World Cup and FANCA tournaments and this has infuriated the said organizations. 

If only shortages of skilled players is what had them call it a tour, then didn’t the very people not know what they were getting themselves into when they mongered the murky deal in the first place?

Didn’t they realize then that the player's they were eyeing for tour were not good enough or is it that the players are just as worthy but they needed to make them the escape-goats for failing to fulfill their undertaking.

The admission also opens up a new debate on who they will seek for their Nation’s Cup team years on. What explanation if any the FSLGV have for its players? Blatantly throwing their own under the bus is not the way to justify a no-go trip.

What about the talent tanks like Javid Khan, Rylan Sangha, Pawan Singh, Nicholas Naidu, Rocket Ismail and Dillon to name a few, don’t these have what it takes to be called the ‘cream of the crop’ of the league, and had these and the entire team called it a quit for whatever reasons, wouldn’t it be fair argument on the record  that there were hundreds of players in the ‘program’ and that immediate replacements was necessary.

The sad tunes of the trumpet aside, the sporting fans must also be made aware of the circumstances surrounding the league’s admission in the Pacific Cup with evil minds worst’s of manipulations at its best.

Vancouver's participation in the Pacific Cup was on the behest of Pacific Cup and as such they reached out to highly respected soccer administrator Sikandar Khan to make it happen with his brokerage skills and get the Canadians to become the next expansion team.

With all earnestness Khan leapfrogged with the entry proposal to the FSLGV, who declined the offer.

The thwarted opportunity only sprung him to look to Nadi Football Association with a lot of optimism, and sure enough the district didn't disappoint.

While Nadi was fast moving forward with its preparations in the way of fundraiser, the FSLGV imbued the Pacific Cup chairman Mohammed Yusuf to reconsider them all over again through a series of emails, discrediting its district affiliate and holding high the league.

Yusuf, quickly snubbed Nadi and embraced the league, probably underestimating the latter’s good word, not realizing that karma works in mysterious ways.

The FSLGV, while firing emails to Yusuf failed to realize their correspondence was being forwarded to NFA and from the content it was clear a lot ‘sugar coating ‘ had been done to convince their reentry.

Nadi suspended its campaign and wished the governance all the very best for the tournament.

The FSLGV embarked on a vigorous fundraiser over the last two dozen months only to fall short on the projected amount, that is this websites findings and one that was independently reported by a league insider.

Following the withdrawal, the league had redesigned a fresh fundraiser ticket promoting their New Zealand and the South Pacific tour, the sample of the ticket was posted on the Facebook, a keen eye fan-page member stumble over the post, asked Sportsone to investigate. This certainly triggered fans to question the motive behind new cash garnering scheme.

This website was also inundated with messages and calls for the distribution of funds to charity. The article headline ‘Fundraiser must be given to charity gained the most readerships and when you thought that was the last of the proverbial ‘slimy’ tricks up the sleeve, the FSLGV pulled the last ticket and revamped the space with a new one promoting its many awards that was up for grabs during its annual presentation night and yes with a $25 cover charge.

The public certainly deserves the cash accountability from the home office of the treasury wing and since the two tour campaign, the Pacific Cup and the New Zealand and South Pacific has dissipated and there's not a hint of it going towards charity the whooping cash could be used towards hefty prize payout for its league and tournaments winners. Your guess is good as mine but the call would ruffle some feathers.  

One could only imagine who is behind the attractive external appearance of something that is not a reliable indication of its true nature. That said ‘all that glitters is not gold’.