‘Let football be the winner’ – Klass
THE Guyana Football Federation (GFF) yesterday launched the third staging of the Inter-Guiana Club Football Championship Cup (IGCFCC) tournament which will be hosted here at the Georgetown Cricket Club ground from today to Sunday, with president of the GFF Colin Klass calling on football to be the winner.
“Let me say first of all, that it’s a privilege for me to be the chairman of this programme which got started three years ago and is being played on a rotated basis amongst the three countries.
“When we commenced same, what we found was the difficulty for us to traverse around the region and at times the world at large, so we collaborated our strengths to develop football, hence this tournament,” stated Klass.
He added: “So far, everything went well thanks to the numerous contributions from all the territories involved and we are looking to have a renewed programme for next year, where apart from this club championship we will look at an expansion programme whether it is from the Under-15, U-17 or even U-19 levels to female football.
“We are also looking at expanding the tournament, wherein clubs from Brazil would be invited to participate and with (Brazil) being a big football-playing nation on the world stage, their participation can further enhance our football.”
With the host country being granted two spots in the tournament, national club champions Alpha ‘The Hammer’ United and the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) football clubs will represent Guyana against Geldar de Kourou (French Guiana), Inter Moengotapoe (Suriname) respectively.
According to Klass, the GFF was looking to have the matches played at the Guyana National Stadium, but due to the two ‘grudge’ matches between Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago being played there this weekend, they had to resort to the world-renowned GCC ground.
“Even though we don’t have all the amenities intact at the GCC ground, we will have to make do with that. Suriname are no stranger to that venue, while it may be the first time for the French Guiana team there, but what I wish to say is: Let football be the winner, irrespective of the venue the game is being played.”
He continued: “All the finer parts have been settled before the teams arrived here, so fans can expect a high brand of football, excellent fair play irrespective of the venue and as I said, let football be the winner at the end of the day.
Together we can make this a success and when I say together, I mean everybody in the football fraternity here in Guyana throwing their support into these matches, commencing with the double header tomorrow (today).”
The winner of the tournament will receive US$1 500, a lien trophy for one year, a permanent trophy replica and twenty-five (25) gold medals, while runners-up will receive a permanent trophy and twenty-five (25) silver medals, with awards being issued to the third- and fourth-placed teams.
Klass stated that the prize money was put up by the three associations (US$500 each), while it was the responsibility of the host country to provide the replica trophy, medals and other incentives that were up for grabs.
He took the time to compliment both the GDF and Alpha for their collaborative efforts in making this leg of the IGCFCC a success, stating that such unity is good for the sport and they must be commended.
Head coach of Alpha United Wayne ‘Wiggy’ Dover said his club who like the French Guiana’s Geldar de Kourou has been participating in this tournament from its inaugural year, will be looking to win the championship on home soil.
“For the past two years, the club that is representing the host country has won the championships. The president of the GFF has clamoured for football to be the winner and while I readily agree with him, I must say that Alpha will be the overall winner of the tournament,” said Dover.
Lieutenant Commander and vice-president of the GDF Sports Club, Orin Porter, begged to differ, stating that the Army Boys have Alpha’s number and they are the ones who will be walking away with the trophy.
Porter further commended Klass for his thoughts on introducing both the young footballers and females to the tournament in the future, stating that the youths were the foundation of the sport for the future.
The action kicks off at 14:00 h today with GDF taking on Suriname’s Inter Moengotapoe while from 16:00 h, Alpha United and Geldar de Kourou will clash.
On Friday, Inter Moengotapoe and Geldar de Kourou will clash from 14:00 h while the feature match will pit Alpha against GDF from 16 :00 h.
Match times for Sunday, the final day, have changed, with GDF and Geldar de Kourou meeting at 18:00 h while from 20:00 h, Alpha and Inter Moengotapoe will face each other, at the end of which the presentation of prizes will be done.