By Ras Wadada

THE Guyana Football Federation (GFF) last Friday evening confirmed that two teams will be added to the revised Elite League, the country’s top tier club football competition.The decision to include Upper Demerara’s Top XX and Victoria Kings of East Coast,in the 2nd staging of the Elite League was agreed upon at a lengthy and intense meeting, among the GFF, the original 8 Elite teams and the two newcomers, held at the Federation’s Boardroom.
The key fundamental change to this year’s competition is that the Champion will be decided from the two rounds of games and not from a play-off final, as was the case in last season’s inaugural Tournament.
The team accumulating the most points at the end of the tournament will be declared the winner. Each team will play a quota of nine games in each of the two rounds of competition where 3 points will be awarded for a win and one for a draw.
The increase to ten teams will give fans some additional games for the upcoming season and more importantly, return top flight football to a much starved Linden Community.
There is the general belief among stakeholders of the ‘Beautiful Game’ that the move by the GFF to revise the league is a positive one for the development of the sport, in particular the deserved inclusion of a team from the Bauxite Mining Town,where there is a great passion for football and where talent is abundant.
One thing for sure is that the financial burden of running the competition will be reduced for the GFF,with increased funding from FIFA and a possible G$20M contribution from Government, as well as Corporate Guyana’s input;the upcoming season promises lots of excitment.
However,there is no word forthcoming from the GFF with regards to sponsorship for the League in the new season, or outstanding payments to players from last season.
According to a reliable source, a number of issues and proposals were discussed in depth at last Friday night’s meeting, but no date was set for the kick-off of the new season.
It is believed that the GFF will study the proposals made by the Elite clubs and work feverishly to pay outstanding cash owed to clubs from the last season,before a date is set for the kick-off of the new season.