By Avenash Ramzan
“We are going to prevail on March 23rd, and at the end of that 90 minutes we will have a resounding party all across this nation.”
Words of optimism and confidence from President of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF), Wayne Forde, as he ended his feature remarks at the launch of ‘Roar to Gold Cup’, an official countdown to Guyana’s March 23 clash with Belize at the National Track and Field Centre, Leonora.
A win for Guyana against Belize in the Concacaf Nations League would secure the country’s maiden passage to the Gold Cup, and the Federation is aiming for buy-in from all stakeholders to ensure this becomes a reality.
“From a footballing perspective, this is a massive, massive game,” Forde declared at the launch of the countdown on Thursday at Pegasus Hotel.
“We believe that we will prevail; we’re doing absolutely everything to prepare our players to prevail. We’re making available every bit of resource that the coaching staff and the players need to deliver on that occasion.”
Fan support
The support of all Guyanese, Forde reckoned, would be a crucial element on the day, and he is urging his compatriots to rally behind the Golden Jaguars as they look to enter unchartered territories.
“It will be two countries represented by 22 players over a period of 90 minutes, and we’re doing everything within our power to prevail at the end of that 90 minutes. Now why am I emphasizing that point? It is because in the world of football, the host nation usually has a unique advantage, and that is to have a 12th person in the game, and that 12th person takes the shape of the fans,” Forde stressed.
“So I want to use this opportunity to encourage all of Guyana- every class, every creed, every race, every social strata- to come out and be a boisterous 12th man for our Golden Jaguars on March 23.”
The GFF top brass touched on the significance of the match, and the direct benefits that could be derived for Guyana’s football.
“This game has tremendous potential for the growth of our programmes locally and for the opportunities for our players. We are poised similarly to Belize on six points; every country that is participating in the Concacaf Nations League would be paying attention to the outcome of that game; every fan that has been supporting this competition over the past couple of months would be looking at that game, because the outcome of that game will determine the pecking order for the rest of the Gold Cup season, and also for the seeding of teams for the 2019 version of the Concacaf Gold Cup,” Forde explained.
Corporate support
Significantly, the Federation recognised several of its initial corporate partners for the upcoming game at Thursday’s function. They include Hits and Jams, 93.1 Real FM, MAAD 97.5 FM, KFC, the National Milling Company and Pegasus Hotel. They were presented with replica Golden Jaguars jerseys.
The Federation’s Social Media Officer, Keeran Williams, said the door is open for other potential partners, as he highlighted several packages that are available.
There are Gold, Silver and Bronze packages, to the value of G$3,000,000, G$2,000,000 and G$1,000,000 respectively, while tailor-made packages to match the investment interest of potential partners are also available.
Partners would benefit from in-venue promotions, rights for co-branded and marketing campaign, pre and post-game promotions over PA System, billboards at match venue, access to national players for activations, feather banners at venue, VIP and Complimentary tickets, discount on tickets/merchandise and access to GFF Social Media platforms for amplifications.
Tickets for the game, which cost G$1,500 each, can be purchased at Guinness Bar (Durban Street), Andrew’s Supermarket (South Ruimveldt), West Indian Sports Complex (Robb Street) and the GFF Office (Dadanawa Street, Campbellville)
Replica jerseys, valued G$5,000 each, are also available at the Federation’s office.
***Additional photos have been uploaded to our Facebook page News Room Guyana
