Jagdeo urges Associations to take a business approach to sports

Feb 24, 2025 Sports

Kaieteur Sports – Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo is pushing for a major shift in the way sports are managed in Guyana, urging a move from traditional, government-driven efforts to a structured business model that creates jobs, builds coaching and administrative talent, and ensures long-term sustainability.

Speaking at the Youth Forum at the Guyana Marriott Hotel, part of the final day of the Guyana Energy Conference and Supply Chain Expo last Friday, Jagdeo responded to a critical question from Curtez Kellman, a Golden Jaguars and Slingerz FC midfielder.

The 26-year-old footballer, asked, “Will there be a plan to develop sports as an industry that creates jobs and develops coaches, players, and administrators?”

Jagdeo urges Associations to take a business approach to sports

Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo addressing the Youth Forum at the Guyana Energy Conference and Supply Chain Expo.

Jagdeo, who served as Guyana’s seventh president from 1999 to 2011, acknowledged that while government funding is important, the sports sector must move beyond state dependency.

He stressed that national sports associations need to modernize their approach and develop a long-term vision that aligns with successful global sports business models.

“Investment in sports is crucial. It has to be transformed into a business model. Right now, we are driving it from Government, but it is more done to provide better facilities to people; it’s not a full-fledged economic model, so we have to transform even in the thinking,” Jagdeo underlined.

He also took aim at outdated practices within many sporting associations, stating, “Many associations still have an archaic thinking and I don’t think they themselves have a vision for their sector. We want to work with them. The associations themselves don’t have a vision and it becomes immensely harder, when it has to be a top-down approach to address this issue, because if you have great associations that can work with the business model, then they can work with the government.”

Jagdeo highlighted the government’s unprecedented investment in sports, with a historic $8 billion allocation in the 2025 national budget, the largest in Guyana’s history, which brings the total investment in sports under President Irfaan Ali’s administration to over $22 billion in just five years.

The Vice President pointed to major efforts to modernize Guyana’s sporting infrastructure, including new and upgraded facilities across the country. But he made it clear that infrastructure alone isn’t enough, the next step is professionalizing sports and creating sustainable careers for athletes.

“We are developing sports infrastructure in building and rehabilitating facilities. We have to now support this by implementing programmes and to professionalize this, make it a business so people can earn money from sports. It’s something that’s worth doing. We provide some opportunities for the sportsmen who are investing in themselves,” Jagdeo stated.

He added, “We may be able to find a job for them in Government to sustain themselves but that’s not the model we are talking about so that they can make good living from sports.”

Jagdeo acknowledged a major challenge: Guyana’s small population and limited market, which restrict local commercial opportunities.

“The problem though, is the size of our population and the audience size is small, so we have to internationalize it (sports). It’s just for these athletes to find a small-time job, a little hustle, and then have to dedicate their time (to sports),” the former Head-of-State said.

While reaffirming the government’s commitment to supporting athletes, Jagdeo urged sports associations to adopt a more progressive, business-oriented approach.

He believes that by fostering stronger collaboration between the government and well-structured associations, Guyana can build a thriving sports industry that benefits athletes, coaches, administrators, and the entire sporting community.

(Jagdeo urges Associations to take a business approach to sports)

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