Kashif & Shanghai cannot be serious in what they have done

Dec 23, 2008 Letters

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Dear Editor,
I am a big football fan, and have followed local football for the past two decades, never wanting to miss any of the big tournaments.

The Kashif & Shanghai tournament is my favourite, and every Christmas season I would arm myself with tickets to attend many of the games in Georgetown and Linden.

I have not missed a final for the past 10 years, but this year I intend to stay away in protest of the reason given by the organisers for no longer using the MSC Ground in Linden for the final.

From the onset, let me say that Kashif & Shanghai have every right to take their tournament wherever they want, that’s their prerogative.

But, in the same breath, they ought to be honest about the reasons behind the move. I attended last week’s Opening Ceremony in Linden, and listened carefully as Kashif Mohammed slowly tore away at the very foundation he was standing on.

Mr. Mohammed, whom I respect for his organisational skills, should have been a little more forthcoming with the truth. If you want to move the tournament to the capital so you can make more money, then that’s it.

Tell us that, but do not pull down and criticise the management of the Mackenzie Sports Club and use the state of the MSC ground for your decision to take your tournament from its home.

If that’s your excuse, then you should have picked up and moved out completely. Instead, the tournament will host the quarter finals and the semi finals at the same venue that has now become unfit for the final.

The MSC ground has served the community of Linden and the K&S organisation faithfully. I have enjoyed the many spectacular finals it brought us over the years.

But I feel a deep pain in my heart at the way this venue has been ignored by Government and community leaders like Kashif & Shanghai for many years.

Accommodation was always a big problem for the final, no doubt about it, but crowds of 10,000 and more have been turning up for the past 10 years, and I thought that the K&S group, knowing fully well the limitations of the MSC, would have used their influence to rally the business community to begin infrastructural work to develop the facility.

These guys pull in big sponsors every year. If some of those same sponsors would have been asked to assist with the financing of new pavilions, I am sure they would have readily assisted, just like many of them have done in the many cricket grounds across Guyana.

When I realised that K&S could not be serious about finding the best facilities to host their matches was when I attended the double-header at the Paradise ground.

The ground is a dam; a muddy paradise that should only be used for cattle rustling and rodeo. No seating facility, no proper security, no parking, but it fits the Kashif and Shanghai bill of health.

Other games are scheduled for the Buxton ground, another swampland that should only be used for community grudge matches, not a national tournament. The MSC ground is by far the superior football venue in the country; and rather than walk away from the ground, leaving it in its bleeding and injured state, Kashif & Shanghai should have offered some CPR.

And let me point out, too, Mr. Editor, that I was totally surprised that, in the same year that the football tournament is being moved out of Linden, the Linden Economic Advancement Programme would use its wisdom to LEAP onboard the bandwagon and offer a multi-million-dollar sponsorship package to the organisers as if to say, “Nice move, see you later”. LEAP cannot be serious.

I know of young entrepreneurs who would wait months upon months to get some financial assistance from LEAP to develop their small businesses.

LEAP has now become a football fan and is easily handing out its money to an organisation that is clearly taking economic advancement out of the Linden community.

I hope the folks at LEAP visit the many empty food booths, and empty hotel rooms, and empty mini buses and taxis around Linden on New Year’s Day, and I would then like its Programme Director to explain its LEAP of faith.

That LEAP donation could have gone towards the construction of new stands that could have accommodated the thousands who would be standing.

But, anyway, back to the playing field. I have always enjoyed the fun of driving up to Linden for the football festival, partying with friends all night long after the game, sleeping in our cars, going to the creek for a bath the next morning before driving back to the city.

I remember the hot bowl of porridge I would eat every morning after the tournament at the market square, and the liver stew that accompanied.

The Kashif & Shanghai final in Linden was more than just another game, it was a rite of passage; it was an experience like no other.

Linden has given a lot of support to the tournament over the years. I am surprised that my Kashif & Shanghai brothers are still taking. I’ll miss the football final in Linden. I will not attend a substitute for the real thing. I am hurting.
Lester Joseph

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