WHILE newly crowned Kashif and Shanghai champions Alpha ‘The Hammer’ United celebrated, lifting, the 21st edition of Guyana’s most anticipated football tournament with a 3-2 victory over Pele Football Club at the Guyana National Stadium on Saturday night, their president Odinga Lumumba said they would not be playing any local tournaments where the prize money is under $2m. Lumumba, who is also Presidential Adviser on Youth Empowerment, yesterday, told a media gathering at the Waterchris Hotel that he does not wish to wait until November to make his intentions known, hence he is giving the organisers early notification of his teams’ non-interest in defending their title.
‘First of all, Alpha United is a principled team and we believe in doing things the principled way, so let me take this opportunity to congratulate the Kashif and Shanghai Organization and their list of sponsors who supported the tournament, for a well ran one.
The earlier stance I took with regards to certain fundamental aspects of the tournament, placed my team under tremendous pressure to perform and they did so in the midst of all that was taking place and came out on top, as they had the will and desire to win,” said Lumumba.
He continued, “We also had the professional know how to win and it is my view that if the executive that manages Alpha United take over the reins of the Golden Jaguars, there would be a 300% turn around in terms of performance and discipline among the team.
Our victory totally emphasised Alpha’s dominance of Guyana’s football for the past five years and this was a testament of all that I went through before a ball was kicked in this tournament, with the victory paying off, but let me say this with no apologies, we will not be playing any tournament where the first prize is G$2m or less, so they (K&S) have 11 months to up the stakes or find a replacement team.
We are committed to the Guyana Football Federation’s (GFF) National League even though the first prize is nowhere near G$1m, as we are the national champions, but when it comes to other privately organised tournaments such as the Mayor’s Cup and even the K&S tournament, we will not be playing if the prize money is not right.”
Reflecting on the final match which many described as one of the better football matches they have seen in recent years on the local scene, Lumumba said his technical staff led by national coach Wayne Dover and skipper Howard Lowe prepared the team well.
“We know we are a crowd pleaser wherever we go in Guyana and it is time organizers start recognizing the input footballers play in making their tournament a success. Alpha and Pele are two teams who power up for tournaments of this nature, while the other teams are bait.
They can say what they wish to say, but when it comes to game time, teams in the caliber of Netrockers, New Amsterdam United, Topp XX, Bakewell Buxton and the others are merely bait for Pele and us, and for the final, I would like to congratulate Lowe and 20 year old Kris Camacho for their excellent work in the defence.
In fact, it was Camacho who was entrusted with the role in shutting down Pele’s Devon Millington in the absence of Issa Mc Pherson in the left back position and he did an excellent job.
Added to that, we exploited the options of the four guest players per team to the fullest, when we utilised the services of Grenada’s Kitson Bain, Dominica’s Kurlson Benjamin (who scored the winning goal in the final) and Clayton and Cacau from Brazil.”
While giving an update on his club’s tournament which is set to commence sometime next month and carries a first prize of US$20,000, Lumumba made it clear that the tournament dubbed the Mc Neal Enterprise/Alpha United International Tournament, was not meant to rival the K&S tournament.
“Let me make it clear, we are not looking at replacing the Kashif and Shanghai tournament which cost Alpha $2.3m in preparation fees and Pele close to $1.5m, but rather increase football tournaments in the country, especially high profile ones.
Having said that, I would like to call on the sponsors and even corporate Guyana to continue supporting the K&S tournament, while at the same time throw their support behind one or two of the clubs who will be competing in the annual fixture, so they can be strong as Alpha and even Pele, giving football fans a treat for their money,” stated Lumumba.
Teams participating in the Mc Neal Enterprise/Alpha United tournament will be given an appearance fee of $200,000 and should they progress to the quarterfinal stage of the competition, they will be given an additional $200,000, which is not in any way associated with the prize structure for the tournament which promises to be an annual affair.
The second, third and fourth place teams will pocket US$10,000, 5,000 and 2,500 respectively along with trophies, with Lumumba promising to disclose the sponsor of the tournament within the next three weeks.
With regards to the profit sharing which will be introduced after expenses, Lumumba said 25% would go towards Alpha, while 50% would be equally divided amongst the Golden Jaguars and Lady Jaguars to be used as a supplement to their stipend and the other 25% to the clubs who participated in the tournament.
Special thanks was heaped on the team’s band of supporters who withstood numerous onslaughts throughout the K&S tournament, Courtney Benn of Courtney Benn Contracting Services Limited, Michael Cummings of Cummings Electrical and the other list of supporters who have been behind Alpha over the years.