– negotiations on-going with Government for football’s return locally

By Rawle Toney

WITH a busy 2021 year ahead on the International stage for Golden Jaguars, Wayne Forde, president of Guyana Football Federation (GFF), is hoping that the game can return to the field locally, to help with preparation of the country’s beloved National team.

Guyana will play Guatemala on July 2, 2021 in their bid to feature at the CONCACAF Gold Cup for the second time, after qualifying for the tournament last year.

The country’s national team have not seen any action since their 1–1 draw with Jamaica in Kingston on November 18, 2019 and with the advent of COVID-19 months later, football globally had to shut down as governments the world-over put system in place to curb the spread of the virus.

But while the sport has seen a return to the field in most countries, in Guyana, according to Forde, GFF is still locked in negotiations with the Government of Guyana’s National Task Force.

Since football has returned, Guyana’s opposition Guatemala played Mexico on September 30 where they lost to El Tri 3-0. Guatemala then played to a scoreless draw on October 6.

“We are committed to playing at least three friendlies before the Gold Cup qualifiers, but right now, we’re locked in negotiations with the Government and everything depends on how that goes,” Forde told Chronicle Sport yesterday.

Forde added that the qualifiers are deemed as important to GFF, and as such, GFF is committed to ensuring that the Golden Jaguars are properly prepared and the best team given every opportunity to succeed.

The GFF president had hoped that local football can return by the end of the year in time for the federation to host its end-of-the-year tournament.

Though falling 3-0 in their first meeting with Guatemala in 2010, and then 2-0 two years later at the Guyana National Stadium, Golden Jaguars will be hoping to come away with a win and move on to face either The Bahamas or Guadeloupe in the second round of the CONCACAF Gold Cup qualifiers.

Should Márcio Máximo and his troops come out successful, they will be drawn in Group C of the CONCACAF Gold Cup alongside Jamaica, Suriname and Costa Rica.

The 2021 Gold Cup will begin on July 2, 2021, with a Preliminary Round which will include 12 CONCACAF member associations competing for the final three spots in the 16-team Group Stage.

The Group Stage of the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup will kick off on July 10, 2021. The 12 CONCACAF national teams, which qualified directly through their performances in the CONCACAF Nations League group stage, the guest participant, AFC Asian Cup Champions Qatar, and the three Prelims winners have been divided into four groups.

The Knockout Stage, to be played among the top two finishers in each group, will for the first time in Gold Cup history see teams on opposite sides of the bracket meet from the quarterfinals onwards.

In previous editions, teams have only competed against opponents on the same side of the bracket until the Final. This change will add further unpredictability and excitement to the competition, which was expanded from 12 to 16 teams for a hugely successful 2019 edition.