FÉDÉRATION Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), Gianni Infantino will arrive today for what GFF president Wayne Forde is calling a ‘momentous’ visit.
Infantino will arrive with a delegation of six persons including Véron Mosengo-Omba, FIFA Director of Member Associations and Development for Africa and the Caribbean; Mattias Grafstrom, FIFA Adviser to the President and Jasmin Frei, FIFA’s Office Manager, Executive Office of the President.
The Italian will be the third FIFA president to touch down in Guyana, following João Havelange’s stop in 1976 and Sepp Blatter in 2001.
While in Guyana, Infantino will participate in a ceremonial turning of the sod at the FIFA Forward Project, Providence, along with the Hon. Nicolette Henry, Minister within the Ministry of Education and GFF president Forde.
Speaking with Chronicle Sport yesterday, Forde said that seeing the FIFA Forward Programme (formerly known as the FIFA Goal Project) get off the ground, especially with the FIFA president turning the sod is his most important agenda being achieved.
In 1999, Guyana, Belize, The Bahamas, Nicaragua and St Lucia were listed as countries to benefit from FIFA’s new initiative, the ‘Goal Project’.
The year 2001 saw former FIFA president Blatter visit Guyana reportedly for the historic turning of the sod for what was thought to be this country’s first football stadium on land under the control of the University of Guyana.
But Blatter had stated that the building of stadiums was the responsibility of governments and subsequently revealed that FIFA would contribute some US$400 000 once the GFF is able to acquire the necessary land.
The local football federation struggled for years to acquire a piece of land from the Government of Guyana until Moroccan Alami Binani made available to them a piece of land at Orangestein, East Bank Essequibo.
After Klass was suspended during 2011 in the famous Cash for Votes scandal, the project was shelved with only a land clearing exercise ever conducted.
Under Klass’ successor, Franklin Wilson, the GFF acquired US$500 000 funding for the resuscitation of the project after initially being allocated US$400 000.
Christopher Matthias, elected to the GFF top post in 2013, discarded the Orangestein land due to the uncertainty surrounding its ownership and the distance from the capital city.
He then engaged the government in an attempt to acquire land behind the Leonora Track and Field Facility, but nothing came to fruition as the government allegedly offered less than four acres which was not approved by the world governing body.
However, in 2015, under the Clinton Urling-led Normalisation Committee, the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) officially signed a 30-year lease agreement with the Eccles/Ramsberg Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) for the Providence Community Centre ground.
Infantino will meet with President David Granger at the Guyana Defence Force Base Camp Ayanganna.
The GFF disclosed that Infantino will also pay a courtesy call on CARICOM Secretary-General, Ambassador Irwin LaRocque; visit an Academy Training Centre (ATC) as well as have lunch with the Executive Committee of the GFF.
FIFA president will conclude his visit with a press conference at noon at the Pegasus Hotel.