… winners to get $1.4M and runner-up $150 000
THE Upper Demerara Football Association’s (UDFA) Interim Management Committee (IMC), headed by Dr Joseph Haynes will on April 17 launch the first 20/20 football competition in Guyana which will present a new facet to the world’s most popular sport.
Speaking in an exclusive interview to Chronicle Sport, Dr Haynes said “we are looking to launch a very interesting concept of football that will begin in this region. I have already spoken to GFF president Colin Klass about it and Aubrey ‘Shanghai’ Major and we are looking to launch a T20 football that I established over a year ago.”
With the task of bringing back the spectators to view the sport, Dr Haynes said, “We are going to promote it. It should be a big tournament and it is going to be sponsored by Sunburst and probably our E and H Health Centre.
We are looking to make the first prize money like $1.4M and the second about $150 000.” He indicated that “every team in Linden who wants to participate will participate, the money stays in Linden. And as we promote, and it gets big, we are going to take it across the country. I intend to take 20/20 to World Cup. That is my dream to see 20/20 football end up in the World Cup”.
He said the “Linden teams can bring whoever they want and what we are hoping to bring is to create an exciting style of football, where we play for 40 minutes, where you have to score and win your games. Five minutes is for halftime and each half is for 20 minutes. That’s how we get 20/20.
Questioned about the originality of the thought Dr Haynes  quipped “it’s my idea,  I was going to sponsor the tournament from the outside, but as we spoke about it  then, it was talked about over nine months ago, but with me  looking at this IMC thing I kept putting it down.
Garth Nelson (Jr) was pushing it all the time and I didn’t know  it, so I went out to New York and he sat me down and we talked about it and he said Joe do the thing I am going to back it. We will back it from New York and so I got his support.”
With this urging Dr Haynes informed that Nelson and Colin (Klass) were discussing it but he did not know. “
He assured, “But it’s going to be good and we are going to bring football back here in Linden. I intend to make sure that we promote the style of football that goes to World Cup. 20/20 is going to go World Cup. I can see it.”
A very confident Dr Haynes said “that it is going to be the new initiative that is going to drive football not only in Linden but across Guyana, because we are going to provide a style of football that is going to provide results in 40 minutes.
We are going to have two games in one day – two fast-paced, exciting football games. The only thing is you are not going to get any overtime and the rules are all set that the game finishes in 45 minutes and if there is no goals scored  or a game is tied it is penalty shootout right away.
With the idea born some time ago Dr Hynes recalled “we  were planning to launch it at the Kashif and Shanghai games but we never sat down with Greg (Kashif) and Shanghai to discuss  it, because it was felt it should not be a Kashif and Shanghai thing, and that we should do it ourselves.
And Klass endorsed it after he threw it out to the Guyana Football Federation executives and he said if you are going to do it, do it in Linden as part of the IMC initiative. We are going to change football for the better.