THE Guyana Football Federation (GFF), through president Wayne Forde, inked what is being seen as the cornerstone for their plans, heading into 2026 FIFA World Cup, with the Denmark Football Federation and its president Jesper Moller, at the Pegasus Hotel, in Kingston, Georgetown.

Witnessed by CONCACAF’s Senior Project officer, Howard McIntosh and Union of European Football Associations’ (UEFA) Head of International Relationship, Eva Pasquier, the Memorandum of Understand (MoU) is tailored to see the two Federations focus on several key areas in the sport, both on and off the pitch.

The football love-story between the two nations, according to Forde, dates back to 2017, and was birthed in Lagos, Nigeria, when they were guests at a FIFA Summit.
“By the simple act of affixing our mark to sheets of paper, today we have sowed the seeds of friendship that in time, can produce a harvest of new and exciting opportunities for the long-term development of Guyana’s football,” Forde said.

The terms established for the two Federations’ collaborative efforts for the next six years, state that there will be implementation of some key strategic objectives and programmes.
Apart from coaching exchanges, infrastructure development will be one of the most important areas, with Forde pointing out that Guyana will benefit from Denmark’s engineering and architectural services for the technical centre and construction of the D’Urban Park football complex.

Competition Management and Professional Football League Development is also on the table, since, according to the GFF, capacity-building for clubs, officials, administrators and oversight of establishment of a professional league are vital to Guyana.
The area of Women’s Football development is also listed in their MoU as a comprehensive women’s football strategy.

Perhaps one of the most important of them all, Grassroots Football and Youth Development, will see the GFF and Denmark Federation facilitating youth training camps in preparation for international competition.

As it relates to Governance and Administration, the Denmark ‘FA’ will facilitate a Management exchange programme for the General Secretary, Finance Manager and other key Management Staff of the two entities.

“No one should pretend as though genuine, meaningful and sustainable football development in a small nation is easy. It is not and I would also assure you that good intentions are simply not enough. For football to grow in any country, big or small, genuine partnerships that endure all seasons are essential,” Forde compounded.

Meanwhile, Moller told reporters that he was interested in the GFF’s regional academies, stating, “We don’t have an academy or a training side in Denmark yet and perhaps we can get some knowledge about doing that. You have a big country but not so much infrastructure and it is quite the same in Denmark,”