Guyana to host men’s CBC Championships in July

…Kashif and Shanghai on board as LOC

Ten senior men’s basketball teams from around the Caribbean region will converge on the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall (CASH) in July for the Caribbean Basketball Confederation (CBC) 2026 Championships.
The competition, which will see the teams placed in two groups of five for round-robin play, will also act as the first round of the Caribbean pre-qualifiers for the 2029 FIBA AmeriCup, with the group winners moving on to the next stage of qualification.
During the tournament’s official launch on Monday, Sport Minister Charles Ramson Jr highlighted the magnitude of the event, noting that it was a return on investment.
Ramson Jr shared, “This pre-qualifier for the AmeriCup, this is the first time that it’s going to be held here in Guyana. That alone is a signal, emphatically that the country, as well as the sector, is going in the right direction. I can name several events on basketball, but on all of the sport disciplines that we would’ve held here for the first time. We weren’t able to achieve this, because we wanted or we had money to spend.

“We have been lucky in relation to making the investment early on our facility. That was one thing we were able to see the timelines and the trends and the direction that we wanted to take the country in; that making that investment early on, the facility is really what gives us the opportunity to host it,” the Sport Minister enlightened.
Guyana Basketball Federation (GBF) President Michael Singh related that their hosting will be a good opportunity to expose up-and-coming players to international competition.
He also discussed a strategic move which will see the Kashif and Shanghai Organisation spearheading the Local Organising Committee (LOC).
“Opportunity like this only comes along ever so often. We basically have an opportunity to host, in Guyana, all the better countries at CBC. In 2018, although it was held in Suriname, we never had the opportunity at a magnitude for all our young players to go across and see basketball at a very high level. By hosting in Guyana, we will have that opportunity,” Singh told the gathering at CASH on Monday.
The GBF boss further elaborated, “High on the agenda is basically to have an organisation like the Kashif and Shanghai Organisation where they basically handle all aspects of our operations. This gives the Federation an opportunity to focus on its preparation of the national team.”
Kashif and Shanghai Organisation Co-Director Kashif Muhammad expressed his eagerness to get the job done.
Muhammad said, “We’re extremely happy to know that we were selected to assist the basketball development in Guyana and we’re extremely happy to know that we have this collaboration between GBF, Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport and the Kasif and Shanghai Organisation to put this together. I think that collaboration will produce something really fantastic for Guyana this time around.”
“The Kashif and Shanghai Organisation responsibility’s is all the logistics and we have a competent team. We’re ready and we know we’re delivering a high-class, high-quality tournament and we’re asking Guyana to come and support the Guyana national basketball team,” the renowned sport organiser went on to add.
“We also would’ve hosted the Women’s Championship last year and because of how well we would’ve done last year, FIBA, along with the support given from the Government of Guyana, particularly through the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport, they would’ve given the confidence in the Guyana Basketball Federation to host the Men’s Championship which is also the start of our Olympic qualifying journey as well,” GBF Vice President Rawle Toney later added, sharing the reason for Guyana’s selection as the competition’s host nation.
Hosts Guyana, Dominica, Turks and Caicos, Antigua and Barbuda, Haiti, Bermuda, Grenada, Cayman Islands, Barbados, and St Vincent and the Grenadines will make up the 10 competing teams.
The competition will run from July 8- 12.