GFF National League closer to reality

Apr 16, 2009 Sports

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‘Win in CONCACAF with CONCACAF’ Project to fund Pilot League

The realisation of a National Football League is much closer to reality as a result of the ‘Win in CONCACAF with CONCACAF’ programme.
This innovative developmental programme has been devised by FIFA in conjunction with CONCACAF and will see USD $10 million invested into 11 North and Central American and Caribbean countries over the next two years.

Details on how Guyana will benefit from the programme were unfolded yesterday at a press conference hosted by the Guyana Football Federation and attended by Programme Manager Keith Look Loy of Trinidad and Tobago, Gregory Engelbrecht Senior Manager Development Programmes Americas who is based in Zurich but Aruban born, Digicel’s Shirwin Campbell along with GFF President and General Secretary, Colin Klass and Noel Adonis.
Look Loy and Engelbrecht ended a 3-day visit to Guyana during which they conducted a feasibility study to ascertain what is in place as regards infrastructure and also held discussions with the GFF on the modalities of the project (League) which would involve 10 teams.

The countries benefiting from this project apart from Guyana are Barbados, Belize, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panama, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago.
Klass in opening remarks stated Guyana’s delight in being part of the process and feels very Blessed to be among the chosen. Engelbrecht informed that he was born in the Caribbean and he would do his best for the Region to benefit as much as possible from this programme.
He also disclosed that the programme would consist of two major sub-programmes, a National League of which Guyana has been selected and there is also a Youth programme which would be done in other countries.

“Our aim is to help develop a national league for Guyana and assist in structuring a league at the youth level so it will be a total approach to Guyana’s football. Our visit at this time was to assess the situation to see what the best approach would be in order for this to develop as good and as fast as possible.”
Engelbrecht confirmed that the GFF would have to prepare a proposal and budget with the guidance of Look Loy which would be sent to FIFA for approval.

“Once this is done, Look Loy will then assist the GFF to implement this programme by going through all the different steps to make this programme a success.”
Look Loy, no stranger to Guyana having served as an officer with the Goal Project some years ago, elaborated more on the Win Programme reinforcing that it has a two year life.
“Specifically, the programme will make an investment on FIFA’s behalf in the administration of such a league, administration of the clubs that will participate, in youth football, education and in the development of referees and coaches.”

On the proposal he said the GFF will be working on that during the course of the next two weeks, himself and Engelbrecht holding extensive discussions with the governing body since they arrived on Monday.
“The league in the first instance will comprise ten teams. It will be by invitation and by invitation to ensure that the associations outside of Georgetown and in the Hinterland have the possibility of developing their football and ensuring that the players from those areas have the possibility to compete at the highest possible level in Guyana.”

Look Loy assured that the league will not be dominated by Georgetown clubs since that would do the development of the game in Guyana no good.
“It is a league that would be run with the intention of developing elite football across the country.
The GFF will run and administer this league and under its umbrella, clubs will be helped to set up internal structures that do not now exist and this is not peculiar to Guyana, this is the case across the Caribbean, by and large.” Clubs that participate in this league, Look Loy said, would receive the benefit of this FIFA investment but in turn they will have requirements to meet and responsibilities to fulfill.

“To establish these internal structures, to appoint a technical director for the development of the internal football and to supervise the youth systems that the GFF requires them to have.
Clubs will also benefit from the training of persons to promote and market the game responsible for selling the game in its locality, Lethem or otherwise.
“The investment will help the GFF establish a league, help clubs establish themselves over the two year period and give them the possibility of continuing such a life after the investment ends because the investment will end, it will not continue forever.

If the work is not properly done and if the clubs do not assume their responsibilities then the investment will be lost, the league will collapse, the internal structures will collapse and football will go back to business as usual before this FIFA investment so I want to underline the point that this is not a hand out from FIFA, but it is an investment seeking a partnership with the GFF and clubs that will belong to this league to move Guyanese football forward at the top domestic level.”

FIFA will absorb the major costs of the league which is transportation and advertising apart from training of the various persons at the various levels. The ‘Win in CONCACAF with CONCACAF’ comes closely on the start of the Goal Project, another FIFA funded initiative which will see the GFF constructing a Training Facility.
Look Loy noted that these are projects that the government and sponsors need to pay attention to and come on board. “We are making that appeal and possibility known to them that Guyana has immense potential where football is concerned and these two investments are developments that all concerned should seek to support and must come on board.”

Apart from the National League and Youth programme, an academic programme also falls within this project.
It has been agreed between FIFA and the University of the West Indies to develop a Post Graduate Diploma in Sports Management, based at the University of the West Indies, St. Agustine Campus, Trinidad and Tobago. These three projects will share in the USD $10 million dollars.
Campbell in brief remarks reminded that Digicel is supportive of the game and community development holistically. “We look forward to pushing as much as possible from our end the improvement to another level of football across the nation.”

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