THE BK International Western Tigers’ ‘Super Eight’ football tournament will now set to kick start this Sunday, following postponement due to the inclement weather.
According to club president Gordon Gilhuys, games will be played on January 16, 21, 23 and 30, adding that they “have already approached the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) in the absence of the Georgetown Football Association (GFA) for dates that will be available”. Gilhuys is of the view that the tournament will serve as a good fillip for local players in the absence of the GTT Premier League. The Attorney-at-Law also opined that his club is also thinking of making the event an annual one to give clubs a chance to prepare for the annual Kashif and Shanghai football Tournament.
The event is being held by the club to help them in their quest to participate in Suriname against some of the Dutch-speaking country’s top clubs in a goodwill tournament set for June of this year. Gilhuys added that the club “had discussions with the Surinamese federation since last year and we will be having further discussions this year to make sure preparations are in place”
Some of the sponsors for the inaugural knock-out tournament are BK International, Toucan Industries, Ansa McAl, Banks DIH, King’s Jewellery World, Cummings Electrical, Hits and Jams and the National Communications Network (NCN).
Apart from the host, the tournament will feature Riddim Squad, Sunburst Camptown, the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), Pele, Fruta Conquerors and Santos.
The winners of the Western Tigers Super Eight knock-out tournament will pocket $500 000 while second-placers will receive $200 000, third-placers $100 000 and fourth-placers $50 000.
Originally, Alpha United was listed among the eight teams to participate, but last week Alpha’s president Odinga Lumumba publicly said that his club will not be playing in any tournament that fetches a purse under $2M, and as such, it is unclear if the event will be graced with the presence of the 2010/11 Kashif and Shanghai tournament winners.