First stage of Inter-Guiana Games cancelled

Jul 28, 2015 Sports

Director of Sport, Christopher Jones (right) updates the media yesterday on the status of Guyana hosting the first stage of the Inter-Guiana Games along with NSC Administration Officer, Gervy Harry.

– Suriname informs of inability to take part

By Edison Jefford

Guyana has shelved all preparations to host the first stage of the 2015 Inter-Guiana Games (IGG) owed to the non-participation of Suriname that informed Guyana that it will not participate in the competition through its local Embassy.
Director of Sport, Christopher Jones held a press conference yesterday where he disclosed that as a result of the recently held elections in Suriname where the Minister of Education, who also has responsibility for Sport, has not been appointed, the neighbouring country has communicated the unfortunate development of being unable to participate.
“As it stands, Suriname is unable to participate and as such, the IGG first stage is off,” Jones said adding that Guyana was well-prepared to host the tri-nation competition that was set for between August 6-10 at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.
As such, he informed that a meeting among the Directors of Sport for Suriname, French Guiana and Guyana, the three participating countries, will be held during August 13-14 in Suriname with the relevant issues related to the event high on the agenda for discussion.
In addition to the rescheduling of the Games, Jones informed that he will be advocating for some review of the protocol for the age of athletes in school. Jones said that Suriname has a secondary school age of 19 years while Guyana’s is 17-18 years. He believes the disparity in age of athletes in school, who are eligible to compete, places Guyana at a disadvantage.
The Director of Sport indicated that he will be relating Guyana’s disappointment of being unable to host the Games as planned. “Our athletes were encamped for about a month, and Cabinet had approved out of budget to host the Games,” Jones informed.
Asked how they are dealing with any financial loss that may have been accrued, Jones said that a two-day competition has been planned for the local contingents from the five disciplines that are: Basketball, Volleyball, Table Tennis, Badminton and Chess.
“At the level of Government, they are no losses, but in terms of our teams and preparations there will be because they were encamped for some time,” Jones said, but Admin Officer, Gervy Harry was quick to point out that the development should not be seen as a loss.
“It should not be seen as a loss, but an input. It’s money spent, but our athletes were able to come together and gel; they were able to play together from all over Guyana for the weeks,” Harry said as he disclosed that from accommodation to food, all the administrative work and systems to host the Games were well on stream.Hoiw