… K&S winner to get one pound of gold; Jah Cure to headline after-final concert
FOR the past 21 tournaments, the Kashif and Shanghai (K&S) Organisation, promoters of the annual Kashif and Shanghai Football Festival , has been building from strength to strength, with an aim to please the local football public.
It is evident from the offering of a $1M first place cash prize to having the world’s greatest player of the sport Edson Arantes de Nascimento, who is known more to the world as King Pele, grace these shores with his presence at the start of their 2009 tournament,
Can it get any better? Then, how about this for an answer – one pound of gold worth G$4M and Jah Cure headlining their after-final concert!
Certainly the local soccer-loving public will say that Greg ‘Kashif’ Muhammad and Aubrey ‘Shanghai’ Major have certainly hit the peak when it comes to offering lucrative prizes for a local football tournament, which is worth their Medal of Service (MS) award that was bestowed upon them recently.
Yesterday at the launch of their 22nd tournament which took place at Duke Lodge, Major made the announcement of the prizes which will be up for grabs, receiving wows from his audience after making the announcement of the first prize which is being sponsored by Aruwai Enterprise Incorporated.
Added to that, the second-, third- and fourth-placed finishers will pocket $1M, $500 000 and $300 000 respectively while the tournament’s Most Valuable Player will ride away with one motor cycle.
Nineteen teams have been selected to compete in the 20-team tournament, with the final team being chosen sometime this week, either Grove Hi-Tech from East Bank Demerara or Linden’s Winners Connections.
Of the 19 teams selected so far, two will be overseas-based, including Caribbean United out of Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago’s Caledonia AIA, along with defending champions and Guyana’s number one club Alpha United.
According to Major, BK International Western Tigers, Pele, Victoria Kings, Milerock and Topp XX, all former winners of this prestigious tournament, and other local football clubs eagerly look forward to this year’s competition.
Present at the launching were Ansa McAl’s Darshanie Yusuf and Nigel Worrell, Demerara Distillers Limited Maria Munroe, Guyana Telephone and Telegraph’s Royston Rachpaul and acting president of the Guyana Football Federation Franklyn Wilson.
Prior to Major’s announcement, Muhammad expressed a sense of gratification at not only the progress made with the tournament over the years, a fact highlighted by Wilson, but also the condition of the sport and its future in Guyana.
“At the institutional level, 2011 has been a difficult year for the game at the local level. All of us have followed the events that have, in some sense, had a transforming effect on the local game. These are tough times but we in the K&S Organisation have grown through tough times and what I want to promise is that ‘tough times don’t last, but tough people do,” said Muhammad
Muhammad called on all Guyana to work together to steer the ship of football through these turbulent waters, while giving the assurance that his organisation stands ready to play their part in salvaging the ship of local football.
Muhammad said his organisation felt a special sense of obligation to further raise the standards of the tournament, demonstrating to all of Guyana that they truly deserved the National Award that was bestowed on them and will be working in the weeks ahead to prove so.
“Some of our major sponsors, such as Ansa Mc Al, Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company and Demerara Distillers Limited just to name a few, have offered tremendous support to the tournament, while we expect the Government of Guyana will be on board once again.
“As much as we are grateful for the official support that we have received from our growing list of sponsors, we believe that we have been fully deserving of that support and it is that spirit that has taken us through to the level of becoming a national institution today, to which I say ‘thank you, very much’.”
Speaking on the National Award, Muhammad said he found it hard to conceal the pride which he felt having been accorded that quality of recognition at the highest national level, feeling same not for those who pioneered the tournament, but every footballer, fan, official and institution with football in Guyana.
He vowed to continue the motive that has made his organisation a household name not only in Guyana but also in some other Caribbean countries, which is to produce footballers from Guyana who will be deemed eligible to compete at the semi and professional leagues in other countries.
Munroe, a Brands Manager with DDL, said her company was pleased to be associated with the tournament for the second successive year, saying how pleased they felt at last year’s organising and execution of the tournament.
“We at DDL were very pleased with the way the tournament was run last year and this year, the Committee and sponsors promise to make it more exciting. Added to that, it is always a pleasure to be working with our co-sponsors Ansa McAl and we look forward to doing so again.”
Munroe said DDL has always been committed to the development of sports in Guyana and found it a joy to partner with the K&S Organisation, one that can organise tournaments that will give Guyana’s best talent an opportunity to showcase their skill.
To this end, she said DDL will be hosting some exciting promotions which will allow football fans to win tickets to the game along with fabulous Pepsi prizes which will be up for grabs, while calling on the public to throw their support behind their team and the tournament.
Yusuf, the Public Relations Officer of Ansa McAl said her company was looking at the progress and efficient manner in which the tournament was being executed for a number of years, before they decided to join forces with the dynamic duo last year.
“K&S Organisation has been doing a tremendous job in organising this tournament for a number of years. I can say so because we were on the outside looking on and we saw what was taking place, with the game going places.
With that in mind, it was an honour for us to be invited on board last year and we readily did so with our Stag Beer brand, which enabled us to be a privileged company to witness at first hand, the execution of the tournament and I must say we are pleased to be associated with same,” stated Yusuf.
Worrell said Ansa McAl’s ‘Crown your Community’ drive will be enacted into this year’s tournament, where fans can take a Stag Beer crown and place it into the boxes provided at various locations within the area of the competing teams, with the winning location receiving $3M towards the renovation of the football ground in that community or a community project.
Wilson lauded the K&S Organisation for the consistent and quality of football they have given to the Guyanese public for the past 22 years, saying it has done very well for the country, with the organisers playing an integral role in the strengthening process of our Golden Jaguars.
The acting GFF head believes that the Medal of Service was a testament of the hard work put in by the duo, while he showered praise on London-based Gu
yanese Faizal Khan who has been playing an integral role in talent-spotting players of Guyanese background and encouraging them to represent the country in international matches.
While he acknowledges that the recovery road ahead for the GFF is not an easy one, he was quick to point out that his Federation alone cannot do the job that needs to be done at hand and called on all of Guyana to give of their support.
Seven venues namely the Georgetown Cricket Club, Georgetown Football Club, Mackenzie Sports Club, Blairmont Community Centre, Beterverwagting, Uitvlugt Community Centre and the Guyana National Stadium, will be used for this year’s tournament.
The opening ceremony will take place on Saturday, December 10, at the GCC ground while the semi-finals and final will be held at the Guyana National Stadium, followed by the Jah Cure show which will also feature two disc jockeys from the USA and Canada.