Barbados gives ‘hope’ to Guyana Gold Cup dreams

IN a ruling by CONCACAF that could hear Guyana’s ‘Golden Jaguars’ roar at the 2019 Gold Cup, Barbados will have to forfeit their Nations League qualifying tournament win over Guyana for fielding Hallam Hope and Krystian Pearce.

Barbados and Guyana played to a 2-2 draw at the Leonora Track and Field Centre on September 6, with Hope netting both goals for the Bajans.

However, it was later revealed that the Carlisle United and former Bury FC forward did not have the proper clearance from FIFA and the English FA to represent the Land of the Flying Fish.

In a release yesterday, the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) announced its Disciplinary Committee has decided to sanction the Barbados Football Association, by declaring as a forfeit the CONCACAF Nations League Qualifying match played against Guyana, on September 6, 2018.

According to CONCACAF, “after due examination of the evidence, the Committee determined that the Barbados Football Association infringed the applicable articles of the Tournament Regulations and the Regulations Governing the Application of the FIFA Statutes, in relation to the eligibility of players to play for representative teams by fielding ineligible players Hallam Hope and Krystian Pearce.”

In accordance with Articles 55 and 31 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code, the Barbados Football Association is considered to have lost the match against Guyana by a score of 3-0.

The result of the match played against El Salvador on October 13, 2018 is upheld in accordance with Article 31 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code, with a score of 3-0 in favour of El Salvador.”

Curacao (1), Haiti (2), Cuba (3), Canada (4), Jamaica (5) and Martinique (6) are the top six teams in the tournament, having picked up full points from their three matches.

Bermuda (7), St Kitts and Nevis (8), Dominican Republic (9) and Nicaragua (10) are the other teams in the top 10; all having six points, picking up one loss from three games.

Guyana are positioned behind French Guiana (11), their next opponents Belize (12), El Salvador (13) and Montserrat (14) who are all on six points.

Guyana will play Belize at home next March. A win will more than likely cement their place in the CONCACAF GOLD CUP.