Guyana’s National Football, popularly known as the ‘Golden Jaguars’, refuse to play their last friendly game in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in protest for unpaid stipend.

The team is currently preparing for the CONCACAF Nation’s League qualifier and will play their first game at home at the National Track and Field Centre against Barbados on September 6.

The ‘Golden Jaguars’ departed Guyana on August 12 for Brazil and according to a source, the players were promised their stipend which was not delivered, forcing them to halt their preparation campaign.

However, the GFF’s communication officer Debra Francis, confirming the players’ refusal to train and play due to outstanding finances, explained that the Wayne Forde-led Federation “had some logistical issues in transferring the funds by the expected date.”

Nevertheless, Francis said the owed stipends were eventually paid to the family of the players in Guyana yesterday (August 23).

With matches being played on the FIFA dates between September 2018 and March 2019, Guyana, after their clash with Barbados on September 6, will then travel to Turks and Caicos for a meeting between the two countries on October 13, followed by an encounter against French Guiana on November 20, before hosting Belize in March, 2019.