YESTERDAY, Trinidadian Jamaal Shabazz inked a two-year contract with the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) which takes effect immediately and would see the Caledonia AIA founder and owner taking charge of this country’s Under-23 and Senior teams. With the Olympic and FIFA 2018 World Cup Qualifiers on the horizon, the GFF Normalisation Committee Chairman Clinton Urling said the position taken now by his body is one which reflects its mandate as a committee installed by FIFA, and to also put Guyana back on the world stage.

Urling didn’t disclose the terms of Shabazz’s contract, only stated that it is one which will benefit the game and was done with the interest of the country’s football and its development at heart.
Shabazz was first appointed as temporary head coach of the Golden Jaguars for the team’s International Friendly against Barbados last month and according to Urling, it was based on his (Shabazz) assessment by the Normalisation Committee that resulted in the long-term agreement being reached.
On November 29, 2012 at the Radisson Suites Hotel in Queenstown, Shabazz said an emotional goodbye to Guyana; a country which he had taken to never-before-reached new heights in the sport of football.
With tears flowing, Shabazz spoke of his tenure as head coach and technical director of the GFF and had stated that he will never return despite having close ties to the national programme.
However, yesterday, asked to comment on going back on his words, Shabazz told the gathering of media at the GFF Georgetown head office, that “a lot was taken into consideration coming to Guyana again for a two-year period. But it’s always an exciting moment to pick up a new challenge.”
“Coach Dover and I are happy for what we have done in the past but we are now ready to move on. We feel that we can no longer live in the fact that what we did in 2005 – 2008 and the excitement of 2011 – 2012. We’re proud and we’re happy for what was achieved then but now is a new time, a new feeling of desire and a need to achieve and accomplish new things, along with a chance to push the programme further than it went before,” said Shabazz.
Alpha United’s head coach Wayne ‘Wiggy’ Dover will be Shabazz’s assistant for a two-year duration and the Guyanese opined, “There are challenges but with two years, we have some time to really work together with Mr (Claude) Boldon, work together with the different coaches in the associations, and to work as one united front.”.
Dover added, “This is a new era and always as a coach, you have to look forward to the new stint and not to be basking in the past as it relates to what we would have achieved and I’m very excited about what’s ahead for us and the challenges.”
The recent GFF technical team will get into gear and prepare for Guyana’s first international friendly at home in over two years, when the Golden Jaguars host St Lucia at the Guyana National Stadium on March 22.
It is the hope of the GFF that the St Lucia engagement will serve to give the head coach and technical team another chance to further assess where Guyana’s competitive game is, as they continue to prepare for the CONCACAF preliminary qualifying round in June for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
The GFF in a release recently had stated more players would be given the opportunity to impress the technical staff as they aim to put together the best possible team to represent Guyana.