Leonora stadium gets CFU approval for Golden Jags clash against Jamaica
Scotiabank Caribbean Men’s Cup Championship….
The National Track and Field Facility, Leonora has been approved to host the Scotiabank 2016 Caribbean Men’s Cup Championship between Guyana and Jamaica scheduled for October 11.
This followed an inspection conducted by Patrick Beckles on Thursday on behalf of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU). This inspection was necessary due to the unavailability of the Guyana National Stadium, Providence on the scheduled date of the match.
GFF President Wayne Forde, Director of Sport Christopher Jones (right), Operations Manager of the National Track and Field Facility, Trevor Williams (left) and other officials in discussions on Thursday
President of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Wayne Forde said he was elated at the approval provided by CFU as the Leonora facility provides a second option for international football: “I think apart from the venue being available for the Jamaica game we now have one additional venue in Guyana that is certified for international football and I think that gives us a second set of options and it couldn’t have been any timelier. We’re now embarking on constructing our own facility so in the not so distant future, we will have three facilities within Guyana that we can play international football. I think that Guyana needed to have home-court advantage. We all know that Jamaica is a formidable opponent and apart from the advantage that we needed, it has been almost 40 years since we last played Jamaica in Guyana.”
In an invited comment, Operations Manager of the National Track and Field Facility, Trevor Williams said that he too was very happy to have a facility which caters to sports events: “We are grateful to be able to have the facility stand scrutiny and reviewed by the CFU. It’s very encouraging for us because a lot has been invested in this facility and to know that outside of the national stadium, we can actually play international football is good news for Guyana, the Government, the department and the GFF who have done a lot to encourage the growth and development of the sport so we’re very happy and I’m sure the entire government will be pleased.”
A number of officials from the Ministry of Education (Department of Sport) and the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) were present during the inspection including Director of Sport, Christopher Jones; Operations Manager of the National Track and Field Facility, Trevor Williams; President of the GFF, Wayne Forde; First Vice President of the GFF, Bigadier Bruce Lovell; GFF General Secretary (a.g.) Merson Jones, and National team representatives – Manager and Co-Coach Rawle Adams and Wayne Dover respectively.
The national team has commenced weekly training on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 16:00hrs – 18:00hrs and on Saturdays, 09:00hrs – 11:00hrs.
Guyana will face Suriname in Suriname on October 8.
The Third Round commences on October 5 and in addition to the Guyana match, the other matches to be played on that day are: Haiti vs French Guiana at the Stade Sylvio Cator Stadium (Haiti); Curacao vs Antigua and Barbuda at Ergilio Hato Stadium (Curacao) and Trinidad and Tobago vs Dominican Republic at a venue to be announced.
Fifth Place playoff will be held from November 7 – 15 and the Final Round in May 2017. The top three of this tournament will qualify for the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
