‘One Guyana’ football tournament to help unearth new talent

‘One Guyana’ football tournament to help unearth new talent – Forde

Nov 09, 2022 Sports

– Kick-off schedule for this weekend

By Rawle Toney

Kaieteur News – President of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF), Wayne Forde, believes the President Irfaan Ali One Guyana Cup football tournament, will open a new frontier of players to the local governing body for football locally.
The proposed One Guyana President’s Cup, football tournament is scheduled to start on Sunday, November 13, after football stakeholders recently met with the Head-of-State.

President Irfaan Ali and GFF president, Wayne Forde, following their meeting in June, 2022.

According to a release, the GFF-run One Guyana President’s Cup will kick off with an inter-ward competition in all 10 Regions.
Out of this phase, 10 regional teams, comprising 25 of each region’s best footballers, supported by a team of a five-member technical staff, will contest the inter-regional round-robin championship, with the finals set for January 1, 2023.
Speaking with Kaieteur News, Forde said the One Guyana President’s Cup gives the GFF “…access to communities that in the past would have been considered off the football grid, thus expanding our range of scouting.”
“We believe that there are players across many communities within coastal Guyana and beyond that are yet to be discovered. This tournament helps us to discover the talent that would have otherwise been undiscovered,” Forde explained.
President Ali, following the announcement of the first-of-its-kind tournament, said “The Government of Guyana said they will continue to invest in and promote sport which is key to bringing people together.”
Forde noted that the GFF is pleased to work with President Ali to bring this tournament to the people of Guyana.
“The President and I have been discussing this initiative for several months. I am happy with the planning and commitment we both bring to this project. We will be working with all of our partners to deliver a remarkable inaugural One Guyana President’s Cup,” Forde lamented.
On October 8, Kaieteur News reported on plans for the annual Year-End tournament, with Forde highlighting that the GFF has been working closely with the Kashif and Shanghai Organisation to bring off a successful event.
An announcement was also set to be made on the tournament, while Forde had highlighted that this year, more clubs, stretched across the respective affiliated Member Associations, were set to compete in the preliminary round.
Since the announcement of the One Guyana tournament, organisers have been tight-lipped on other details of the tournament.

The ‘One Guyana’ President’s Cup trophy up for grabs at the inaugural tournament.

Several clubs had already started investing in preparation for the GFF/Kashif and Shanghai tournament.
When asked by this publication if players will be disenfranchised by the absence of the year-End tournament, Forde highlighted, “We (GFF) are developing concrete plans for the staging of the Super 16 Cup and will be making an announcement soon.”
Earlier this year, in June, to be exact, President Ali met with the GFF president and discussed the hosting of a President’s Cup Football tournament during their meeting, which also focused on the Government of Guyana’s support for the ‘Beautiful Game.
The GFF President said a commitment was made to President Ali “…to get together with a technical team to create a format and launch the tournament sometime this year”.
President Ali and Forde also discussed the Federation’s needs regarding the Golden Jaguars’ participation in the CONCACAF Nations League campaign, as well as general football matters, including infrastructure to support the sport.
During the meeting, held at State House, Forde also spoke about more significant support for the development of youth football.
As it relates to infrastructural development, Forde told President Ali of the immediate upgrades needed at the National Track and Field Centre.
The Golden Jaguars, since the inception of the venue in 2015, have been using the Leonora facility as its home base for International matches in FIFA and CONCACAF competitions.
FIFA recently placed the venue under the microscope, where its state and the quality of its lights saw Guyana only playing in the afternoon during the CONCACAF Nations League.

The football pitch at the National Track and Field Centre is the only facility to accommodate football matches in the West Demerara region.