The “Road To Portugal” fundraising campaign, launched on Friday August 19, 2016 has been halted due to the cancellation of the “1st FUTURE CUP U-17 – PORTUGAL” tournament by the organizers – ‘We Believe’ organization.
Acting President of the Guyana Football Federation, Retired Brigadier Bruce Lovell
In a letter to the Guyana Football Federation (GFF), the organizers stated that they were unable to attract the intended number of participants and thus were forced to cancel. “Unfortunately, we could not achieve our objectives, European countries will participate in the qualifiers of the European Championship U-17 – 2017…the other countries had given up due to the cost established…,” the letter read.
This information was communicated to the parents on 30th August, 2016 by acting President, Retired Brigadier, Bruce Lovell who expressed regret but thanked the parents for their enthusiasm and support.
Following the invitation from the organizers, the GFF had engaged the Thunderbolt Flour Power National Men’s U-17 team and their parents and a fundraising drive was launched. Following their immeasurable enthusiasm, a number of projects and media appearances were planned to contribute to the overall related cost of the tournament but no actual fund raising event came off. As a group, they were getting into work mode and were engaged in a clean-up exercise along the Georgetown seawall between Camp Street and Vlissengen Road last Saturday. And despite some business entities having expressed interest in assisting no actual funds were collected.
The “1ST FUTURE CUP U-17 – PORTUGAL” was intended to be an international developmental tournament scheduled for the city of Aveira, Portugal from the 14th – 23rd October, 2016 and with the participation of teams from Europe, North/South and Central America and Asia.
