GFF funds and delivers 19-seater bus for Rupununi Football

The Guyana Football Federation (GFF) has funded and delivered a 19-seater minibus for use by the Rupununi Football Association (RFA) to enable enhanced and affordable participation in football competitions and development programmes across the remote hinterland landscape of Region 9.
The Toyata Hiace bus, the first large-group transportation vehicle provided to a regional football association in the 120-year history of the GFF, will create immediate and considerable cost savings and remove a significant barrier to the participation in football among remote communities.
“We have to make it possible for football to be played more often and in more places across this beautiful country. In order to achieve this, it is important that every young boy and girl must have equal access to the game and its developmental resources,” said GFF
President Wayne Forde.

The bus, funded through the GFF’s ground-breaking Members Financial Assistance Programme (M-FAP), was handed over to the RFA at a ceremony in St. Ignatius on Saturday, Matches involving male and female players from the region followed the handing over.
“With the introduction of the M-FAP programme in 2020, the GFF is now able to provide unprecedented support to the entire fraternity,” Forde has said. “The RFA Executive Committee has delivered remarkable success despite the unique challenges the geography of the region poses. This minibus will now allow the RFA to access every corner of the region, play more games, scout more talent. This is one additional step in our determined effort to improve hinterland football by creating a clear pathway to the national teams of the GFF.”

RFA President Rayan Farias has said the bus would vastly accelerate his organisation’s efforts at developing football across the Rupununi. And he praised the GFF for the creation of the M-FAP initiative, which is modelled on FIFA’s financial distribution model for supporting its members.
“Back in 2015, when the football mantle was taken up under the administration of Mr Wayne Forde, today’s reality was just a dream,” said President Farias. “It is indeed an honour to express our gratitude to the Guyana Football Federation for their continuous support. We want to thank the Federation for allowing this for our youth and senior players.”
The Rupununi, on the southern border with Brazil, has a renowned passion for football, with girls and boys taking up the beautiful game from an early age, and community male and female teams often embarking on long, arduous journeys to compete against rival villages.
“The Rupununi is the largest administrative region of Guyana. To move around this region is costly, very costly, and I am certain, with today’s activity, it will bring a great ease to the RFA and the clubs that exist in the Rupununi,” said Mayor of Lethem, John Macedo.
“This is truly a great gesture by the GFF. It is very special to be here this afternoon for what I consider to be a very historic event.”