HAVING successfully organised the Guyana leg in the CONCACAF zone of the 2014 World Cup qualifier against Trinidad and Tobago, Greg ‘Kashif’ Muhammad and Aubrey ‘Shanghai’ Major of the Kashif and Shanghai Organisation have turned their attention towards their 22nd tournament which kicks off on December 10.
At a simple presentation ceremony held yesterday at the Ashmin’s Trading, that entity confirmed its partnership with the dynamic duo for the fifth consecutive year, while at the same time being named a Gold member in the K&S Organisation’s list of sponsors.
Prior to the presentation of the cheque for an undisclosed sum, Public Relations Officer of Ashmin’s Trading, Rose Dhanraj, emulated some of K&S sponsors when she said her company has been following the successful exploits of the duo for a number of years.
“For a number of years, the Kashif and Shanghai tournament, which turned out to be a very successful franchise in local football history, has been creating quite an impact in the hearts of footballers and football enthusiasts.
“We, at Ashmin’s Trading, stood on the outside and observed the impact being made by this tournament and when given the opportunity to get on board as a sponsor five years ago, willingly accepted same which today makes us a Gold sponsor of the tournament,” said Dhanraj.
The soft-spoken PRO added, “Today, Ashmin’s Trading is pleased to be associated with the tournament and we look forward to another set of exciting matches in this year’s tournament, while we take the opportunity to wish both the organisers and the players best wishes and may the best team win.”
Responding on behalf of K&S Organisation, Muhammad thanked the sponsor for being a part of the tournament for another year, its fifth in a row, while he said a massive thank you to Corporate Guyana who supported the Golden Jaguars over the past few weeks.
According to Kashif, it is time to begin putting the final touches on their tournament, as they intend to make it a very successful one, even surpassing last year’s tournament and he took the time to notify  the public that Ashmin’s will be selling tickets for the final of this year’s tournament.
“This year, we plan to make the tournament a bigger and better one, surpassing last year’s tournament by miles and it is businesses like Ashmin’s which help to make such a reality so I wish to say thanks to them for coming on board with us once again.
Having said that, I also wish to inform the football public that tickets for the final which also guarantee you the opportunity to witness the after-final show, which will be headlined by Jah Cure at the Guyana National Stadium.  Tickets cost $2 000 in advance and $3 000 at the gate.”
Muhammad said this year’s tournament which has an attractive first prize of one pound of gold valued G$4M compliments of Aruwai Enterprise Incorporated, will see matches played at venues namely the Georgetown Cricket Club, Georgetown Football Club, Mackenzie Sports Club, Blairmont Community Centre, Beterverwagting and Uitvlugt Community Centre.
The opening ceremony will take place on Saturday, December 10, at the GCC ground, while the semi-finals and finals will be held at the Guyana National Stadium, followed by the Jah Cure show which will feature two disc jockeys from the USA and Canada.
Added to the massive first prize, 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 motorcycle.
Of the 20 teams selected so far, two will be overseas-based – Caribbean United out of Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago’s Caledonia AIA – along with defending champions and Guyana’s number one club Alpha ‘The Hammer’ United.
Muhammad also informed of Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force (TTDF) football team’s willingness to compete in this year’s tournament, which would make them the third foreign team to do so, once the necessary requirements have been met.