Elite League Cup kicks off next Saturday

The Guyana Football Federation (GFF) will, later this month, unveil a new tournament, the “Elite League Cup”, following its initial announcement at their Ordinary Congress in November 2025.
The new League Cup will fill the gap in the first quarter of the year, as the Federation pursues their desire to shift the 10-team Elite League to a new competition window, tentatively from August 2026 to April 2027, aligning with international leagues across the world.
Nonetheless, the Elite League Cup was announced on Thursday, curiously via one of the Federation’s social media handles, and will feature the top nine teams from last year’s Elite League 2025.
These nine teams have been sorted into three groups where they will be engaged in round-robin play, followed by the semi-finals, a third-place playoff, and a grand final.
With the draw for groups already completed, Group A will house reigning Elite League champions Slingerz Football Club (FC), Monedderlust FC and Ann’s Grove United FC. Group B comprises the Guyana Police Force (GPF) FC, Santos FC and Den Amstel FC. Meanwhile, the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) FC, Western Tigers FC and Fruta Conquers FC will compete in Group C.

As questions swirled about the group allocations, the GFF provided some insight, sharing in a missive, “The Guyana Football Federation advises that the group allocation process for the Elite League Cup was conducted using a structured seeding approach. Seeding is a method commonly applied in FIFA and CONCACAF competitions and is customised by competition organisers to align with the objectives and format of each tournament.
For the Elite League Cup, teams were seeded into groups based on their final Elite League standings, with the objective of ensuring competitive balance across all groups.
This updated format of the Elite League Cup forms part of the Federation’s broader strategic approach to expanding competitive match opportunities, increasing meaningful playing time for Elite League clubs and players, and supporting long-term player and competition development.”
The GFF has not yet revealed the prize structure for the tournament, which is set to conclude on Saturday, March 7. The entirety of the tournament is scheduled to be played at the GFF’s National Training Centre (NTC) at Providence, East Bank Demerara (EBD).