Mikkel Bjerg keen on Guyana’s development through GFF-DFU collab

By Jemima Holmes

Danish Football Union (DFU) Executive Secretary Mikkel Bjerg visited Guyana last week, alongside Barcelona and Danish National team forward Martin Braithwaite and family, for Martin’s introduction as the Goodwill Ambassador between Guyana and Denmark.

The DFU Executive Secretary has revealed that he enjoyed the food, culture and sites that Guyana had on display during his first visit here. However, Bjerg is even more excited about the DFU-GFF partnership that is taking flight.
While here, Guyana Times Sport had an exclusive sit- down with Bjerg as he spoke about the most memorable aspects of his trip to Guyana.
“We’ve waited a long time to actually be able to go here. With the pandemic hopefully in the background now, it’s so nice to be here to experience the culture, the food. The food is really, really good; a little bit spicier than I’m used to, but it’s really tasty. And it’s such a wonderful experience to see this country with all its natural richness and friendly people,” Bjerg said about his trip to Guyana.
Turning his attention to the reason for his visit, Bjerg expressed relief at being able to get the DFU-Guyana Football Federation (GFF) going after the pandemic’s halt.
“It’s a big relief. Martin was really eager to go here. He was supposed to go here in 2020, but because of the pandemic it wasn’t possible; so, we talk about this as the second half of the cooperation, where we really kick off things and start the good initiatives that are on the table.”
Bjerg went on to state, “From there we can build, and who knows what’s going to happen in the future? Maybe we can extend the partnership.”
About Martin’s visit here, Bjerg is confident that it would do wonders for the partnership, and he hopes this would result in significant football development for Guyana in the future.
The DFU Executive Secretary said, “…really, really big impact. As Chris Milnes from UEFA mentioned, it’s the first time that they’ve actually had a global football star participate, which shows a lot about Martin’s character that he really wants to do this. He’s invested in the project, so I think it will have a massive impact.
“Also, for the interested parties that want to help, I see the Blu Water (Shipping) really active here in the local society, so I think there’s a lot of strong forces to push the development in the right way, along with support from UEFA and the DFA.
“There’s some good initiatives and projects in the works here, as far as I understand. So, it’s a good foundation to continue the work of developing football here, and I’m really looking forward to monitor the progress and see how the development is going to go,” Bjerg further related to this publication.
Through UEFA Assist, the DFU and GFF signed in 2019 a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which signalled the beginning of their partnership.