One Guyana President’s Cup Regional tournament starts tonight

Dec 11, 2022 Sports

Kaieteur News – The One Guyana President’s Cup football tournament will kick off this evening from 18:00hrs at the National Track and Field Centre, with a double-header.

Following the tournament’s opening ceremony which will see the attendance of high-ranking Government officials and other key football stakeholders, fans will be treated by a clash between Region 6 and Region 9 from 18:00hrs.

The night’s second game will bring together the home side, Region 3, coming up against Region 1.

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

President Irfaan Ali and GFF president, Wayne Forde, flanked by representatives of the teams competing in the inaugural One Guyana President’s Cup football tournament. (Office of the President photo)

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).

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.

The One Guyana President’s Cup will be one of the most lucrative tournaments ever held in Guyana, with approximately $30M going directly to the players and staff of the 10 teams.

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.

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.

Some of the sponsors include GTT, Digicel, Ansa McAl, New GPC, Caribbean Airlines, E-Networks and Edward Beharry Group, among others.