TECHNICAL Director of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Claude Bolton has disclosed that the inaugural Elite League will boost Guyana’s football in the future. He made this statement during a press briefing hosted in the Federation’s Boardroom yesterday.Bolton said, “You cannot have a strong national team without having a league; it is proved that a league strengthens and better prepares national teams. This is why we are proud to have the Elite League which will develop Guyana’s football in the future.”
The inaugural GFF Elite League was recently launched with eight teams invited to participate, all of whom have already met with the federation on the league.
In keeping with the new mandate issued by CONCACAF, the GFF invited applications for Elite Club Licence from all member associations to be submitted by May 12. According to the GFF, a total of eleven applications were received and were passed through the criteria for obtaining the licence before a decision on the final eight clubs.
The technical director mentioned too that the federation is still formalising the structure of the tournament and will have a development shortly.
Meanwhile, the Lady Jags, Guyana Senior Women’s National Team, are progressing slowly towards their Olympic Qualifiers.
Guyana are drawn in Group Four in the Caribbean Zone of the 2015 Women’s Olympic Qualifiers, which will be hosted in St Kitts and Nevis from August 21 to 25, and are fixed to take on the hosts and Cuba.
Bolton told the media representatives present that there are obvious financial restraints that prevent the preparatory stages for the women but they have received some accounting assistance to create an innovative approach to stretch their finance in the most constructive way.
The GFF is currently still in the recruiting process to get the best female footballers to represent the nation. It was revealed that a camp is scheduled to be held in Toronto, Canada from June 18 to 23 to identify potential players.
No squad has been identified by the federation for the qualifiers but Joseph ‘Bill’ Wilson and Mark Rodrigues have been tasked with the jobs of head coach and technical director respectively.

By Kizan Brumell