Caribbean Football Union President, Randy Harris. Photo by George Alleyne
Caribbean Life, April 10-16, 2020 25
By Tangerine Clarke
Known as the “Gentle Giant” Wendell
“Dragga” Manifold, former Guyana
national Under-18 captain of the
Pele FC, died at Brooklyn Downstate
Hospital on March 23, at age 65 from
cardiac arrest.
A former student of Charlestown
Secondary School, Manifold, a sixfooter,
left Guyana in 1974 on a football
scholarship to Clemson University
in South Carolina. He was known
as the best defender to wear the
national colors well.
The Guyana Chronicle has reported
that former teammate Brenthley
Babb said Manifold was one of Guyana’s
greatest footballing talent, a
defensive icon and leader. He mastered
every aspect of the defense
game and was an imposing and tenacious
player with supreme confidence
and at times demonstrated the skill
and fluidity of central midfielder,
reported the publication.
‘Wendell was my first captain at
Pele FC and it was a pleasure playing
with him as my fullback because he
was like a wall in defence. We communicated
well and had a fantastic
understanding as goalkeeper and
sweeper. I would always know when
he played the ball back to me without
being called out,” said Babb.
“What stands out in my memory of
‘Dragga’ as captain and senior player
to the team is his advice along with
instructions to younger players on all
aspects of the game, which enabled
us all to improve and develop to the
next level. He definitely molded us,
before he migrated to the U.S., into
becoming the top football team in
the country.”
“His vast knowledge of the game
at such an early age was phenomenal.
He earned the respect on the
pitch everywhere he played and no
doubt Guyana has lost a great son of
the soil. He will be missed,” said the
publication.
By Azad Ali
The International Cricket Council
(ICC) said the upcoming Twenty20
World Cup 2020 will “go ahead as
scheduled” despite the ongoing coronavirus
crisis across the globe.
The ICC Twenty20 World Cup 2020
is scheduled to be played between Oct.
18 to Nov. 15 at seven venues across
Australia.
ICC said in a statement: “The ICC
Men’s T20 World Cup is scheduled to
take place from Oct. 18 – Nov. 15, 2020
in seven venues across Australia. We
are planning for the event to go ahead
as scheduled.”
The coronavirus pandemic has taken
a huge toll on sports across the country
and cricket is not an exception.
The Board of Control for Cricket in
India (BCCI) and the Cricket South
Africa (CSA) last week decided to
reschedule the three-match series due
to the COVID-19.
By George Alleyne
Caribbean football leadership’s old
face, Jack Warner, and new face, Randy
Harris, recently had a clash of words
over whether the regional organisation
is properly managed.
In fact Warner, who was unceremoniously
removed from the post of
Caribbean Football Union (CFU) president
and other posts amid corruption
accusations in 2011, went as far as to
contend the body that is supposed to
govern regional football “doesn’t exist
anymore”.
Trinidadian Warner is a once dominant
figure in Caribbean football who
became CFU president in 1990, then
also took presidency of Confederation
of North, Central American and
Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF)
and was in the FIFA executive
committee since 1983, rising to the
vice-presidency before being banned
from football in disgrace.
Barbadian Harris, on the other
hand, was elected to the CFU presidency
in 2018 and continues to hold
the position today.
Warner who is now fighting deportation
to the USA where the Justice
Department wants him to answer wire
fraud, racketeering and money-laundering
charges has rarely commented
on Caribbean football since his fall
from grace, but let known his opinions
in a recent interview on a Trinidadian
TV programme, ‘ViewPoint.’
“I look back with a certain amount
of pride at the legacy I left,” he said,
adding, “when I look around and see
what it has become today … I am
happy that I’m no longer in football”.
“Football has declined in ways
unimaginable.” Moving on to refer to
his CFU presidency he said, “in those
days it was something you looked up
to.”
“When last you heard anything
about the Caribbean Football Union;
where is it; who are its officers; when
last it had an election?” he asked.
“How come overnight the Union is
dead? There is not a single thing about
the Union for the last eight years,” he
asserted.
But responding in the ‘Barbados
TODAY’ newspaper Harris countered,
CFU is “well-run.”
Harris, whose 2018 election in itself
answered one of Warner’s questions,
said, “also, there have been three CFU
elections since 2012.”
Harris, who is also a CONCACAF
vice-president, added, “we always are
up-to-date, and we have been audited
every year for quite a while even before
I was in, so I really don’t understand
the statement. I don’t know where he
is getting his information from but it
is very incorrect.”
Wendell “Dragga” Manifold, former
Guyana national Under-18
captain of the Pele FC.
Regional football heads in spat
DJ Bravo releases COVID-19 song
COVID-19
victim leaves
soccer legacy
By Azad Ali
West Indies cricketer Dwayne Bravo
has released another song, this time
highlighting the deadly COVID-19
virus, which is spreading globally.
Bravo released several songs over
the years including his popular sports
song “Champion.”
The Twent20 all-rounder highlights
the precautions that people must take
to protect themselves from the virus
such as washing hands thoroughly
and staying indoors.
“The world needs a helping hand”
and “we not giving up, we want this
madness to stop.”
Bravo, who recently made a return
to the West Indies team, describes the
pandemic as a bad, sad situation and
now is time to come together.
He said all religions and races are
affected by the virus and asked people
to pray for the world, naming Trinidad
and Tobago, Italy, Jamaica, India,
China and the USA among other
countries.
T20 World Cup
West Indies’ Dwayne Bravo.
Associated Press / Aijaz Rahi; File