The Prodigal Son has returned!: GFF’s Elite League set for May 14th kick-off

By Jemima Holmes

The Police Sports Club Ground at Eve Leary in Georgetown will, on Sunday May 14th, witness the long- awaited return of the Guyana Football Federation’s (GFF’s) Elite League competition.
The League’s last sign of life was in 2019, when Tucville-based club Fruta Conquerors were crowned champions of the 4th edition of the tournament. Now, with the COVID-19 pandemic and return to play protocols being cited as a major hindrance, the Elite League will return in a truncated version.
This year’s 5th edition of the league will see the 10 teams which competed in the 4th installment returning to play 9 games each in a single round system. Each team will play every other team in the league once.
According to GFF Technical Director (ag) Bryan Joseph, these measures were taken to effect realignment with the football calendar. He said during a press briefing at the GFF’s Campbellville Headquarters on Saturday afternoon: “This shortened version of the Elite League is an attempt for us to have our elite players and clubs participating and competing against each other, but it also has a component of trying to get us realigned to the football calendar.”
While the tournament is confirmed to kick off on May 14th, there has been no confirmation of further fixtures, since the GFF is still ironing out the best time to accommodate its FIFA+ partnership that would be utilised during the league.
The FIFA+ platform would allow the GFF to broadcast the games in the league for the purposes of visibility, marketing, and to some extent scouting.
“Because of the FIFA+ and us finalising the venues, match times, etc, out of that conversation, we’ll be able to say what match plays at what venue and what time, making best use of the FIFA+ platform,” Joseph indicated.
What has been confirmed, however, are the playing days for the league, which will be Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. It is estimated that the league will see eight matches per month until its completion, estimated in September.
Also in place for this year’s Elite League is a participation grant, which will see each of the 10 participating teams receiving $500,000. This sum is expected to cover logistics costs for each club’s involvement in the tournament. Aside from this, the league is set to cost the GFF a whopping $20M-$25M.
At the end of the 2019 league, a promotion and relegation process was supposed to be carried out. However, with the league now resuming after that edition, the promotion and relegation will come after the completion of this year’s league. In that case, the bottom two teams in the Elite League will be relegated, while the top two teams (Champions and runners-up) in the Regional Member Association (RMA) National playoffs will be promoted to the league.
The Clubs in this year’s shortened Elite League will be two-time defending champions Fruta Conquerors FC, Western Tigers FC, Den Amstel FC, Guyana Defence Force (GDF) FC, Buxton United, Santos FC, Guyana Police Force (GPF) FC, Milerock FC, Victoria Kings and Ann’s Grove FC.