Latest update September 17th, 2026 10:25 AM
Shabazz prefer home games to be played overseas
…Golden Jaguars Coach not pleased with state of NTFC football pitch
By Rawle Toney
Kaieteur Sports – Guyana’s national football team’s Head Coach, Jamaal Shabazz, was candid in his assessment of the condition of the football pitch at the National Track and Field Centre, which hosted Guyana’s recent match in this season’s Concacaf Nations League.
The Golden Jaguars secured a 3-2 victory over The Bahamas on Tuesday evening, maintaining their perfect record in Group F of League B, thanks to goals from Omari Glasgow, Kelsey Benjamin, and Stephen Duke-McKenna.
However, while expressing satisfaction with the three points, Shabazz was taken aback by the deplorable state of the pitch at the only facility in Guyana suitable for international football.
The condition of the facility has been a source of concern for the Guyana Football Federation (GFF), which was compelled to host some of the Golden Jaguars’ home matches in other countries, including their previous home game against Montserrat, played in Barbados.
“I would have preferred to play on a different ground in another country, even if it meant giving up our home advantage, just to have a decent pitch for the players,” Shabazz lamented in the aftermath of the team’s victory.
Golden Jaguars Head Coach speaking to the media.
“I would have preferred to play on another ground, in another country, and give up our home advantage for a good pitch for players to play on. We must think about facilities,” a visibly upset Shabazz said in the aftermath of the team’s win.
“This was a horrible pitch,” Shabazz exclaimed, adding “and I think it solely affected the way we wanted to play. And the job of the player is to play. The job of the coach is to try to create a team that could win and do the best, whose job it is for us to have a proper facility to play,” Shabazz said.
He added, “This is terrible. This is totally unacceptable. And I prefer, until we get better facilities, better Guyana play our home games away from home. This is not what a coach would like to be talking about at the end of a game.”
The Bahamas is considered a weaker team in Caribbean football, and fans had hoped for a more dominant performance from Guyana, similar to their 5-1 victory over Antigua and Barbuda in the opening Nations League game.
Shabazz responded to critics, saying, “Of course, it’s easy to say we barely win 3-2 against Bahamas. Okay, you can ride. That is always the reality. Would you guys go on the pitch? We just came from playing Antigua on a beautiful ground in hot conditions. But you know what? We were able to play football, and one of the fundamental things of playing football is a football pitch, and we don’t have that.”
While calling the situation unfortunate and people will want to point fingers, Shabazz said it’s not his concern, but pointed, “I dream of the day when Guyana will have a proper surface to play football on. I cannot answer anything else about football because I did not think that much football was played on this surface.”
Following Tuesday evening’s game, Guyana will travel to Puerto Rico on October 14, with the return fixture scheduled for October 17.
On November 18, they will once again face The Bahamas, and on November 21, they will host Antigua and Barbuda.
Share this:
Discover more from Kaieteur News
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Similar Articles
Website Hits
Blunt of the day
Sports
Features/Columnists
Sir. Ronald Sanders
The GHK Lall Column
Weekend Cartoon
