The year end is looking bright for football in Guyana as ANSA McAL, under its Stag brand, has entered into a partnership with the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) to quell the thirst of football enthusiasts around the country.
GFF President Wayne Forde, GFF Director of Competitions Ian Alves and Stag’s Nigel Worrell are flanked by representatives from some of the participating teams
Sixteen teams from all across the nation will meet next month for what is expected to be a riveting year-end tournament.
With Stag being the primary sponsor, the GFF has found itself a long-standing partner who is shouldering the responsibility of prize monies. In addition to making the disclosure of the prize monies, Stag representative Nigel Worrell emphasised the fact that this tournament was more than just a sponsorship stint.
“Sponsorships are more short-term but partnerships are more about the development of the sport,” Worrell explained.
GFF President Wayne Forde, at the tournament’s launch on Monday evening, noted that the year-end tournament has been a staple in football culture in Guyana.
“Ultimately, we know that the public has been calling for vibrant year-end competition. We stated in the early days of our administration that we’re going to consolidate year-end football, this is one step in doing that. We still have a bit more work to do for 2019, but the goal is to have a competition that conveys the unity and the harmony that the football fraternity needs,”
With games scheduled to be played on December 14, 16, 21, 23, 25 and 26 at a yet-to-be disclosed location, GFF Director of Competitions Ian Alves revealed some of the teams that would be involved in the tournament, and expressed his excitement at such.
“As you would know, the year-end tournament is a culmination of a year of football and this year, it’s going to be big. We have the eight top Elite League teams involved, along with an Indigenous All-Star team, the Rupununi top club Guyana Rush Saints, we have Berbice and Essequibo playing as an association, and we’re finishing it off with the top clubs from East Bank, East Coast and Georgetown. So we expect keen competition and we look forward to a really good tournament.”
A word from the sponsors came from Stag representative Nigel Worrell, who disclosed that the company would be striving to bring a different but exciting twist to the competitions.
“Actually, there’s going to be a lot of different things that we haven’t done in football before. For every single game, we’re going to have the fan of the game; we’re also going to be having a lot of different prizes.”
In the January 1 final, the two top teams will battle for supremacy with each team taking home $1 million, while third place will walk away with $500,000. (Jemima Holmes)
