Braithwaite, DBU impressed with Guyana’s developing football infrastructure

…MoU extension likely

By Jemima Holmes

The National Training Centre (NTC) at Providence, EBD is, without doubt, the Guyana Football Federation’s (GFF’s) pride and joy. The facility has been highly rated by Barcelona and Denmark forward Martin Braithwaite during his visit here, as the GFF look to extend their partnership with the Denmark Football Union, the DBU, with an eye on infrastructure.

This all-weather facility, current venue for several national team practices and League games for both men and women, was commissioned back in 2019 as part of the FIFA Forward project. It caught the eye of Denmark’s Martin Braithwaite, who visited Guyana last month.
Prodded about their thoughts on the facility, both Martin Braithwaite and Mikkel Bjerg, Executive Secretary of the Denmark Football Union (DBU), have said they have been quite impressed.
“I feel this is a good start, this is a really good start. And I feel there is potential. You have this foundation but, of course, you need to build on from that,” Braithwaite told Guyana Times Sport exclusively.
He added, “Guyana is a big country, so we need to find a way to reach all the talents from the country and make it even for them to get the resources and the training that they need. So, those are the parts and things that we’re working on, but when we’ll get there we’ll get there.”
And Bjerg has expressed, “I’m really impressed by it. It’s a really good turf, I just went down and had a look. It’s fairly similar to the one’s I’ve played on in Europe back in the days, so it’s really, really good, and there’s some good initiatives and projects in the works here as well.”

Taking kindly to the foreigners’ remarks was GFF President Wayne Forde, who reasoned that their feedback would do well to not only develop infrastructure, but the game in Guyana.
“Well, it’s not just a professional player, he would have been raised in a totally different football space than we have here in Guyana. He would have been playing on the best pitches, training at the best facilities. So, for him to have such a positive thing to say about the work we are doing here at the NTC, that’s very encouraging,” Forde shared with this publication.

“I took some time to take him around and show him what’s happening. I discussed with him some plans we have for the ongoing works, and he was keen on asking me some questions, based on his own experience. He shared with me some concepts that they have in Europe on how they set up gyms and all of that,” Forde added.
The GFF Boss further posited, “I’m sure, as we continue to talk to Martin and he gets more and more involved as the ambassador of the partnership, we will learn a lot from the knowledge and experience that he brings. But not only that, from the network that he’s now going to be opening up for the GFF.”
With infrastructure development being a key part of the GFF-DBU partnership, all eyes are on the extension of the MoU, which Bjerg thinks is likely.
“It’s looking good. I know that there’s some meetings in the book, so the talk is already going on with UEFA and the Danish FA. So, I think it’s a very good prospect to continue the cooperation,” the DBU Executive Secretary told this publication.
This is also a prospect that Forde is eager about. On the topic of the partnership extending, he disclosed, “We’re really, really happy about the partnership, and I want to feel confident that, at the end of this 5 years, it’s possible that we enter into a longer-term partnership.”