Latest update November 18th, 2024 1:00 AM
Latest News
- ExxonMobil eyeing 8th project despite Jagdeo says 7th ‘iffy’
- City Mayor slams govt. for favouring foreign companies over locals for tax concessions
- Pope Francis urges inquiry into Gaza genocide allegations
- New aircraft for GDF commissioned
- Importing truck drivers from Bangladesh, a disrespect to Guyanese – Norton
GFF Premier League preparations going excellent
– President clears the air on K&S Organisation’s claims
By Rawle Welch
With the Opening Ceremony and first round of matches of the Guyana Football Federation Premier League slated for the Mackenzie Sports Club ground on Sunday, October 6, President of the entity, Christopher Matthias, expressed satisfaction about the progress made to date to this newspaper on Friday when asked about preparations for the staging of the event.
“The preparations have been progressing excellently and we expect a great opening in Linden on October 6, at the MSC ground,” Matthias said.
Christopher Matthias
Close to $7million in prize monies are anticipated to be shared between the top four teams with the winning team taking home $3million, runners-up-$2million, third place-$1million and fourth place-$500,000, while all participating teams and association will be given a percentage of the daily gate receipts which will be presented five (5) days after the submission of the gate receipts reports.
Matthias added that the GFF has also instructed that all referees, coaches and former national players be allowed to enter any venue that games are being played free of cost.
He said the referees and coaches will be given identification cards to ascertain their eligibility to enter the venues, while the past national players will be required to register with the GFF to qualify for a pass.
Meanwhile, Matthias also sought to clear the air on the controversial issue of the Kashif & Shanghai’s Annual Football Extravaganza which reports have stated is being held hostage by unhelpful actions from the GFF.
The GFF Head in setting the record straight informed that the Federation received a letter from the Guyana Women’s Football Association on August 28, 2013 which purported to act on behalf of K&S Organisation asking that during the period November 2013- January 1, 2014 they be granted permission to stage the tournament.
Matthias said that save and except for January 1 no other specific dates were mentioned in the letter which is one of the requirements for hosting tournaments.
He added that the GFF “will stop no one from hosting any competition once they comply with the rules of the Body and once the dates that they’ve applied for does not conflict with the GFF’s list of activities.”
Matthias listed some of the requirements needed to host a tournament and they include a copy of the rules and fixtures, budget, a letter of confirmation from the respective clubs stating that they have no objection to playing in the competition, a letter of no objection from the member association and that the clubs are in good standing with the association, a letter of commitment or lodging of prize monies from the corporate sponsors stating that they are prepared to honour their commitments and levy fees.
The GFF Boss told this newspaper that they’ve had letters of complaint from three associations of corporate sponsors not honouring their promised obligations, pointing out that such developments serve to reinforce the need to ensure that all applicants desirous of staging tournaments adhere to the rules set out by the Body for the good of the game.
Matthias in response to the question of what timeframe has been allotted for local fans to see the ‘Golden Jaguars’ in action again, informed that national coaches have been identified and a Technical Committee set up that will work under the guidance of Vice-President (Technical & Tactical) Ivan Persaud and the Committee will be appointed on October 1, 2013.
According to Matthias, its mandate will be to formulate a National Development Programme and to encourage its adoption throughout every football playing community in the country.
He revealed that the GFF will be looking to develop the game at every level and one of the main focuses is to get a team prepared to compete in the 2016 Under-23 Olympic qualifiers.
Similar Articles
THE BLUNT OF THE DAY
Sports
Features/Columnists
Traditional media is still king
…Peeping Tom Kaieteur News-Election campaigns are a battle for attention, persuasion, and votes. In this digital age,... more
Rising Gun Crimes in the Caribbean: Urgent Action required by all
By Sir Ronald Sanders Kaieteur News – There is an alarming surge in gun-related violence, particularly among younger... more
Weekend Cartoon
