GFF head lauds receptiveness of Sport Minister as football restart looms

Football players, fans, lovers and enthusiasts are bracing for the return of competitive football following a long hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Teaming up to make this a reality in a few days are the Guyana Football Federation (GFF), Kashif and Shanghai Organisation (K&S) and the Ministry of Culture Youth and Sport.

All-star teams from the East Coast of Demerara, Linden, West Demerara and the City will be battling for supremacy on December 29, 2020, and January 1, 2021.

The winning teams from the first day will clash in the final on New Year’s night where many of the nation’s stars, current and future would be in combat. Fans would be able to follow all the action on January 1 via NCN Channel 11, E-Networks and the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport’s Facebook page.

As a result of the pandemic and the conditional approval granted by the National COVID-19 Task Force, no spectators would be allowed.

GFF President Wayne Forde commented: “Almost two months ago I met the Hon. Minister and shared an overview of the critical phases of the Golden Jaguars preparation for the 2021 international season. I also updated him on the GFF/UEFA Bounce Back imitative and the importance of putting into practice the game-day COVID-19 protocols we had developed under the guidance of our European partners.”

“Today, I am very pleased to acknowledge the receptiveness and tremendous support of Minister Ramson, which has manifested in the GFF – Kashif and Shanghai Bounce Back classic. The purpose of this event is to provide our local National team players an opportunity to play a few competitive games and to give the GFF Technical and operational staff a chance to test the implementation of the newly developed game day protocols.”

Forde added: “This is yet another example of important role the Government of Guyana can play in aiding the development of football, facilitating partnerships and engaging young people across Guyana.”

Ramson recently teamed up with the Guyana Body Building and Fitness Federation (GBBFF) to bring off an exciting completion two weeks ago and is at again.

Minister Ramson: “The Ministry is pleased to support and partner with the Guyana Football Federation and the Kashif and Shanghai for this event as a precursor to the recommencement of football activities in Guyana as the world prepares to exit the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021.”

The K&S Organisation was equally excited to be of support for this initiative and happy to share their expertise in the realms of organising being no strangers in this regard as they have been running the most successful football tournament in the history of Guyana.

Kashif Muhammad stated: “We are more than gratified to be teaming up with the GFF and the Ministry of Sports to aid in seeing the game bounce back. We can assure all and sundry that we’ll pull out all the stops to make these two days truly memorable given the challenges brought up us all by the global pandemic, COVID-19.”