THE GUYANA Defence Force (GDF) yesterday stated that due to their participation in this year’s Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Club Championship, they will not feature in the March 20 – April 5 Kashif and Shanghai Knockout football tournament. The tournament this year marks 25 years of existence and will see Ann’s Grove replace the GDF who now focus their attention entirely on the CFU tournament that will also see Alpha United join them as Guyana’s representatives.

Fixtures for this year’s tournament were release last Saturday when the contesting teams met at the 704 Sports Bar with the organisers and it was noted that the Army, along with Linden’s Hi-Stars and Winners Connection were all a ‘no-show’ at the important event.
Ann’s Grove will now travel to Linden where they will play Winners Connection on March 23 at the Mackenzie Sports Club (MSC) ground, the same day Western Tigers clash with Hi-Stars.
Georgetown Football Club (GFC) will clash with Den Amstel while Riddim Squad face-off against New Amsterdam United on the tournament’s opening day at the Queenstown-based Demerara Cricket Club (DCC) ground.
When the competition continues on Saturday, March 21 at the Victoria Community Centre ground, two-time champions Fruta Conquerors (2002 & 2004) will play Mahaica Determinators and 2008 winners Pele come up against Grove Hi-Tech.
Final first-round matches in the ‘win or go home’ formatted tournament will see Guyana’s number one club Alpha ‘The Hammer’ United play newcomers Agricola Red Triangle and ‘West Side’ champions Slingerz Football Club, who themselves are playing in their first Kashif and Shanghai tournament, feature against 2001 champions Victoria Kings at DCC.
The DCC ground will also host the quarter-finals matches on March 27 and 28 while the recently built stadium at Leonora will be the battle ground for the tournament’s semi-finals on April 1 and the final will be played at the Guyana National Stadium on April 5.
Winners of this year’s tournament will walk away with $2M, second-placers $1M, while third- and fourth-placers pocket $500 000 and $250 000 respectively.