By Rawle Toney

Eight of the city’s top clubs, under the umbrella of the Georgetown Football Association (GFA), will participate in the 2016 STAG Premier League, which gets on the way with a double-header today at the GFC Ground.With Ansa McAl behind their STAG Beer brand as the League’s primary sponsor, the tournament’s opening day at the Georgetown Football Club (GFC) Ground will see Santos taking on Sunburst Camptown from 18:30 hours, followed by a clash between Western Tigers and Riddim Squad at 20:30 hours.

Beacons, Police FC, Northern Rangers and Flamingo are the other teams in the league which has seen Ansa McAl pumping millions of sponsorship dollars into the running of the GFA event.

“Football isn’t only being played at the (GFF) Elite League level; we (Ansa McAl) want to see football being played throughout Guyana” said Ansa McAl’s Public Relations Officer Darshnie Yussuf at the League’s launching yesterday.

Already being sponsors of leagues being played on the East Bank and East Coast of Demerara, as was well as in West Demerara Football Association (WDFA) jurisdiction, Yussuf highlighted that “we’re lending the support because while the STAG Elite has the cream-of-the-crop, this is us helping other players and teams to reach to that level or even higher”

“Ansa McAl wants to own structured football at all levels; we’re willing to support once it’s done in a structure manner and one where the players will be the ones benefiting in the long run” said Yussuf.

Meanwhile, ‘A’ Division Commander and President of the GFA Assistant Comissioner Clifton Hicken, after thanking Ansa McAl for their support, said that the playing of the league is one form of his administration full-filling parts of its mandate.

“This is our first approach to Ansa McAl and we were greeted with open arms. Next year, we want to see more of our teams in the Elite League but in order us to do that, we will have to build capacity in terms of developing more first division players at a club level” Hicken highlighted.

Hicken also added that “Like Ansa McAl, we’re asking other stakeholders to come on board because we’re seeing the benefits from developing football at all level and, if you have the youths of this country do something constructive with their energy, I think society will develop in terms of morals and we’ll have less perpetrators of violence”.

The league will be played outside of the dates occupied by the Guyana Football Federation’s (GFF) STAG Elite League, according to GFA Vice President Frank Paris.