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GFF ANTICIPATES BUSY SEPTEMBER
-National Leagues, GOAL Project to start
Colin Klass
The eagerly-awaited ‘Win in CONCACAF with CONCACAF’ National League is now set to start in early September according to President of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Colin Klass, who made the disclosure to Kaieteur Sport yesterday, at the Federation’s Head Office.
Klass, who recently returned to Guyana following duties as Match Commissioner at the just concluded CONCACAF Gold Cup Tournament said that all preparations for the League, which has suffered from at least one deferral in relation to its earlier scheduled commencement are on stream and the respective associations have selected their teams to compete in the competition.
He added that three associations Essequibo, Bartica and East Bank Demerara will be involved in a playoff to arrive at a team to play in the League.
“I’m happy to report that Essequibo has already commenced training in preparation for the playoff and this is a good development,” Klass pointed out.
Quizzed about the GFF’s preparedness to undertake the responsibility to run the League which is regarded as a ‘Pilot Project’, Klass disclosed that they will be appointing a CEO with a professional background, not necessarily one who has been involved integrally with football, but someone who has a fair amount of knowledge of the game.
He said that the CEO will report directly to the GFF who will then forward all information to Technical Director for CONCACAF Keith Lok Loy for further recommendations and or corrections since this setup is happening for the first time in Guyana and is somewhat new here.
The League will see clubs being financially rewarded for their efforts and will take on a professional outlook something similar to what obtains in neighbouring Trinidad and Tobago, but on a smaller scale.
“I do not want to quote figures right now, but that information will be known before the commencement of the League,” Klass commented.
He indicated that teams will benefit financially, but the GFF is unwilling to put a figure that they could not sustain going forward.
Admin Courses –
According to the GFF Head this aspect of the holistic approach to develop football is ongoing, citing a Referees Workshop which was held last weekend as an example of that.
Klass revealed that similar Training and Development Courses for Match Commissioners, Marketing Personnel, Coaches, Goalkeepers and all related programmes to enhance the standard of the game here will continue.
“Training & Development is the emphasis in the preparatory stages because we do not want a situation where persons involved in the League arrive on board with a clear lack of knowledge of the rules and regulation that govern the sport.
Every arm going forward will be strengthened, all those areas that we weren’t placing much emphasis on will engage our attention now and I can say it is the dawn of a new era.”
Klass explained that the new approach is to bring all the relevant stakeholders to a particular level and to this end persons selected to attend the courses will be screened to assess their competence so that what is taught will be further disseminated when they return to their respective associations.
GOAL Project –
The President disclosed that pre-qualifiers to solicit Contractors for the project have been sent out and they are now awaiting responses.
“We’ve earmarked latest September for the commencement of work on the project so that will mean very soon we should be hearing from those who have expressed interest and then forward that information to FIFA Development Officer for the Caribbean Harold Taylor, who will then come to Guyana to unveil the name of the successful bidder.”
Women’s League –
Klass informed that this category of football is still on the front burner and it is planned that the League will run simultaneously with the National League so that the women could get maximum coverage.
He mentioned that the Committee set up to organise the League met last Tuesday to finalise fixtures.
The President said he hopes to hold a general press briefing shortly to update the media on all the developments scheduled to take place.
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