President Ali commits Government to football development

Dec 08, 2022 Sports

– Uniforms unveiled for One Guyana President’s Cup

By Rawle Toney

Kaieteur News – President Irfaan Ali last evening doubled down on the Government of Guyana’s commitment to the development of Guyana’s National Football team, the Golden Jaguars.

The Head-of-State was at the time addressing representatives of the 10 Administrative Regions that will compete in the inaugural One Guyana President’s Cup football tournament, which will kick on Sunday at the National Track and Field Centre.

The ceremony, held at State House, was attended by Government officials, players, the Guyana Football Federation, Kashif and Shanghai Organisation, along with sponsors GTT, Digicel, Ansa McAl, New GPC, Caribbean Airlines, E-Networks, Edward Beharry Group among others.

Several corporate entities will be part of the One Guyana President’s Cup Football tournament. (Rawle Toney Photo)

As much as the tournament is being used as part of the President’s One Guyana initiative, the Commander-in-Chief added, “It’s not only about football, but a mission and an aspiration of us getting into the next world cup.”

President Ali has been speaking at several public events, where he was vocal about seeing Guyana at the 2026 World Cup in Mexico, Canada and the USA.

Last evening, he told the players that the Government of Guyana is committed to removing all barriers that will prevent them from getting into the next world cup.

As it relates to the One Guyana Football Tournament, President Ali thanked the players for their participation while noting that it was just the beginning of a legacy that he hopes forms part of the GFF’s plans to see Guyana qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Following the Inter-Ward tournament played throughout the country, the districts selected their best 25 players to play in the Regional Tournament.

In Group A, Region 4 (Demerara/Mahaica), ranked as the top seed, will be joined by Region 6 (East Berbice/Corentyne), Region 7 (Cuyuni/Mazaruni), Region 9 (Upper Takutu/Upper Essequibo) and Region 8 (Potaro-Siparuni).

Representative of the Upper Demerara/Kwakwani District 10, Patrick Dey, receives his region’s uniform from President Irfaan Ali. (Rawle Toney photo)

District 10 (Upper Demerara/Upper Berbice) was placed as the top seed in Group B and joined by Region 5 (Mahaica/Berbice), Region 1 (Barima/Waini), Region 3 (Essequibo Islands/West Demerara) and Region 2 (Pomeroon-Supenaam).

The teams will play in a round-robin format in the initial stage, where the top two teams from each group will advance to the semi-finals.

Matches will be played at the National Track and Field Centre, the Georgetown Football Club (GFC) Ground, the Buxton Community Centre Ground, the Bartica Community Centre Ground, #5 Ground and Albion Community Centre Ground.

After Sunday’s opening ceremony at the National Track and Field Centre, Region 6 will battle Region 9 from 18:00hrs, followed by a clash between Region 3 and Region 1.

The tournament will continue Wednesday, December 14, at the GFC Ground, with Region 4 facing Region 7 and Region 10 coming up against Region 5.

The One Guyana President’s Cup will be one of the most lucrative tournaments ever held in Guyana.

Apart from the $2M up for grabs for the winner, each player will pocket $80,000 as a one-off payment. Team captains will receive $100,000. The head coach of each team will collect $100,000, while members of his coaching staff are to receive $80,000.

For each win in the group stage, teams will be rewarded $200,000, and each semi-finalist will collect $400,000. Second place team to get $1M.