Forde sheds light on changes to Stage Elite League fixtures

Guyana Football Federation (GFF) President Wayne Forde has revealed the reason why there have been frequent changes to the fixtures for the Stag Elite League, which have been cited as one of the major factors behind the decline in attendance for League matches, with stands half empty for some games.
In an exclusive interview with Guyana Times Sport, Forde explained that during the Genesis phase, football was usually played on Friday and Sunday without disruption; however, during this half in addition to the Stag Elite League, players now have to participate in international tournaments representing the national team, the Guyana Golden Jaguars and the League had to compensate for this.

“There are some unique challenges with the League this year; last year, we were not involved in any international campaign conflicting with the League. This year, we have had a few international engagements such as the Suriname friendly, the Caribbean Football (CFU) tournament and now the engagement with the Guyana national team and the Canadian national team. What has happened as a consequence of that, we’ve had to make some adjustments to the fixtures. Whenever you change a fixture date or the format, you can lose momentum because the fans will now have to readjust their own personal schedule to be at the games,” the GFF President said.
Forde also explained the fact that the national team comprise mostly players from two of the clubs participating in the Stag Elite League made it unfair for those clubs to compete while their players were missing. “When we put these players into training camp for the national team, we simply can’t ask those clubs to continue to participate because they will not be competitive. Because of this, we’ll now have to defer those engagements with the teams until those players have returned to their respective clubs.”
Nonetheless, Forde is hoping fans will turn out in their numbers in support of their team during the closing stages of the Stage Elite League.