REGIONAL Chairman and president of the Upper Demerara Football Association (UDFA) Sharma Solomon said the people of Linden will have football on January 1, contrary to what the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) and its General Council are saying. 

Under the newly launched Banks GT Beer, 14 clubs from Linden are doing battle to see who would walk away with the tournament’s $1M first prize and it was their hope to conclude the tournament on January 1 (New Year’s Day) but the GFF raised the Red Card on its affiliate.
The Federation’s General Council met recently and voted to not have another final on that day, stating that there are already two; the GFA Banks Beer Cup and the Chico Kashif and Shanghai U-18 championship.
“We have exhausted all options and still continue to come up with solutions to this because the people of Linden want to have football on January 1. The thing is we have to subject to the decision of the General Council but we really feel as though they don’t make any sense,” Solomon said.
Solomon and his executives have been frequenting the City trying to convince the GFF and its body that “for Linden this is more than just a tournament, it’s an event and it’s them getting something that they feel was taken away from them and now this is their opportunity to get it back”
He added, “Sadly we have tried to tell the GFF that but they hold on to the fact that there are already the GFA tournament and now the K&S tournament and it would be unfair to football fans.”
According to the GFF, the UDFA was given the proposed dates for the staging of its yearend tournament and January 1 was not given as one of those, but rather the GFA was permitted to play its final on that date.
In an article published in Kaieteur News, GFF president Christopher Matthias said “In the interest of the sponsor (Banks DIH) which has undertaken to sponsor both tournaments, stakeholders and the fans, it would not have been prudent to host both finals on the same day since it would naturally rob the fans and other related interest groups of the opportunity to see both finals if they desire to and this obviously would not have been an ideal scenario.”
However, Banks DIH had already signed a contract with the UDFA stating that they are prepared to host the finals on January 1, but also said that they will have to be guided by the rules and regulations of the GFF.
“I don’t know what will happen but one thing I know for sure is that the people of Linden will have football on January 1” Solomon reiterated.