By Treiston Joseph
The West Coast/East Bank Guinness Greatest of the Streets Football tournament was launched on Wednesday morning at Banks DIH Headquarters at Thirst Park. Sponsors and organisers, who gathered at the launch, said they are anticipating an exciting tournament.
Banks DIH Communications Manager, Troy Peters, said, “We have always worked with the GFF (Guyana Football Federation) on many fronts with tournaments, but for the street football, we see this outside the jurisdiction of the GFF so we are continuing along that very line. It’s a community initiative and we will continue along that line, if it’s any tournament properly organised and structured by the GFF then we will comply because they are the governing body of football.”
Guinness Brand Manager Lee Baptiste opined that the Brand contributes heavily to the development of communities.
“Over the years we haven’t been given enough credit for what we actually do within the communities, we give persons the opportunity to sell there every night and that is one of the ways we contribute as well,” Baptiste highlighted.
Baptiste also emphasised the importance of discipline, noting that for teams and the communities that is a key part to the continued “success” of the tournament. Further, Baptiste shared that Banks DIH is about spreading “positive things” within the communities and bad behaviour will only bring a “negative” light on the tournament.
Baptiste ended by wishing all the teams well while noting that the West Coast/East Bank leg had a record number (42) of registered teams. Nevertheless, 32 teams, inclusive of seven debutants, will battle for the top prize of $400,000 over seven playing night, with the final set for February 17.
All matches will be played at the Pouderoyen Tarmac with a start time of 19:00h. The tournament begins this Friday (January 26).