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Another busy year envisaged for the sport – Klass
– Contractor about to receive direct funding for GOAL Project
By Rawle Welch
Buoyed by the increase in overall playing hours the sport enjoyed in 2009, President of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Colin Klass told Kaieteur Sport that this year could replicate or even surpass that since it promises to be another hectic one for the sport.
Colin Klass
Klass pointed to Guyana’s participation in the 2010 CONCACAF Women’s Gold Cup qualifiers Phase 1, the staging of the Inter-Guianas Tournament between the three countries, the National League, a Top-8 Knockout Tournament, participation in the Digicel Cup, hosting of FIFA Management Seminars, CFU Congress in Trinidad and Tobago in February, community programmes focused on women’s involvement in the sport and numerous coaching courses as among the highlights that will top a busy schedule.
Another programme that is earmarked for this year is a proposed plan to promote co-operation and collaboration between the GFF and the Brazilian Federation stemming from the visit by King Pele last year.
Meanwhile, Guyana women have been assembled in Group ‘A’ for the qualifiers along with Suriname, Cuba and St. Vincent & the Grenadines and was scheduled to play its first game on January 23, but according to Klass he has since written the CFU indicating Guyana’s willingness to host the entire group of matches to avoid the prohibitive cost attached to travelling to the other territories.
He noted that the acquisition of new sponsors continues to elude the GFF, except for the old and faithful ones even though he agreed that the individual associations were able to attract a few new ones.
However, he reminded that if one is to look at the picture holistically, you would find that in this area not much growth was enjoyed.
“Last year, the GFF did attempt to recruit a few new ones, but was told that due to the economic downturn they were not willing to commit to sponsorship,” Klass revealed.
He said he was hoping now that the trend seem to be reversing somewhat, they will now feel inclined to come on board and support the sport.
GOAL Project
–
Reporting on the Project, Klass disclosed that FIFA is about to release direct funding to the contracting firm Alki Investments & Trading Company to commence work at Orangestein, East Bank Essequibo.
The first phase of the Project will cost US$400,000 and is expected to include an international size playing field, dressing rooms for teams, referees’ rooms and a dormitory to accommodate at least one team.
Quizzed on the competence of the Contractor, Klass informed that from all the information received from his technical team, he is confident that the job will be completed and will be well done.
“As far as we know he has all the machinery to complete the job and further we were guided by our technical team and the architect,” the GFF Head revealed.
The first phase is estimated to last about five months after which Klass said they were looking to roll forward with the second and possibly third.
Guyana like Jamaica is one of the countries yet to complete the first phase of FIFA’s kindness to help develop the sport among its affiliates.
“When the first phase is completed we would have acquired the experience to move on and I don’t anticipate any difficulty with the other phases,” Klass told this newspaper.
The land according to him could accommodate all three phases.
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