‘An indication of the President’s commitment to sport’ – Ninvalle on KFC donation

An announcement was made regarding President Dr. Irfaan Ali’s commitment to donating the first and second prizes for the KFC International Goodwill series on Thursday evening; and promptly on Friday morning, Director of Sport, Steve Ninvalle, made the presentation to organizers at his Middle Street, Georgetown office.
This, according to Ninvalle, is an indication of President Ali’s — and by extension the Guyana Government’s — commitment to sport.
“It’s the worst kept secret that sport is moving forward in the country, and the President, being the leader of the Cabinet, has been someone who’s spearheading that developmental drive across all the sports disciplines. So, every single sport discipline can say they have been embraced by the National Sports Commission; the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport; and by extension, the Government and the Cabinet of Guyana,” Ninvalle stated during the simple presentation.

“So this is just another indication; some might want to call it small, some might want to call it large, but it’s an indication of just how well sports sits with the Government and the Cabinet of Guyana,” the Director of Sport declared.
Further, he posited, “This is more or less part and parcel of the President supporting where he said he would have and to; as also being a sports-loving person, that when the members of Petra reached out to him, he immediately – and I want to underline – he immediately said that he was coming on board.”
While voicing appreciation on behalf of the organizers, Petra’s Co-Director Troy Mendonca had high words of praise for President Ali’s commitment to youth development.
“The Petra Organization is elated that President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali recognize our effort, and we would like to say a special thank you for his input at this juncture. We reached out to him because we would’ve recognized his effort in capacity building, especially among youth, and this gesture is a demonstration of his efforts over the years,” Mendonca related.
The football organizer further stated, “And so we applaud his initiatives, and we are very — and I know the football fraternity, the school football programme, would be — very happy to welcome on board Dr. Ali’s contribution to the sport.”
The KFC final was scheduled for Friday night, with Jamaica’s Clarendon College and Trinidad and Tobago’s St. Benedict’s College battling for a $2500 USD ($500,000 GYD) grand prize. The second-place finisher will receive $1500 USD ($300,000 GYD), while the winner of the third-place playoff between Chase’s Academic Foundation and Suriname’s VMO 4 will pocket $1000 USD ($200,000 GYD). Fourth place receives $500 USD ($100,000 GYD).