…Forde cites year-end-tournament, football ‘for all’ but in safe environment

By Rawle Toney 

FOLLOWING the recent announcement by the country’s National COVID-19 Task Force about the lifting of the restrictions for sports, pending approval, Wayne Forde, president of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF), stated that, along with his executive committee, he’s weighing the options that can see the safe return of the sport locally, and one that will benefit all playing groups.

According to the Gazetted order, “Every person or organiser hosting an approved sporting event shall be responsible for ensuring that the measures under the notice, as well as the guidelines that the Ministry of Health may issue, are complied with.”

Sports in Guyana has been at a stand-still since the advent of the Coronavirus and the restrictions put in place to help curb the spread of the virus were not too friendly to the country’s sports men and women.

While sports has seen a return in some Caribbean countries, in Guyana, athletes and sports enthusiast were not so lucky; at least until now.

Speaking exclusively with Chronicle Sport, Forde outlined that since the release of the latest COVID-19 measures and restrictions, the GFF executive committee has been busy trying to solidify their already formulated plans to see the game return to the pitch.

Forde said the plans, which will be disseminated to the public shortly, will see “as much football being played within each age category, all the way from the grassroot level, right up to the senior level will have to be played.”

As it stands, the GFF president said his Federation is “trying to get that guidance from the National Covid-19 task force and all stakeholders involved in providing guidance.”

“But I would say, in the not so distant future, we’ll be able to open up on the plans that will be tendered to the GFF executive committee for approval,” Forde noted.

According to Forde, “there’s a level of urgency in figuring out exactly what can be done and what measures can be put in place to ensure that the public, players, spectators and officials are kept safe during whatever events we’re going to bring off.”

It was not revealed by the GFF president if fans will be allowed in the venues, as is the case in several countries which returned to action behind closed doors.

Only recently, Howard McIntosh, a top CONCACAF and FIFA executive, appearing on a University of the West Indies, Mona webinar hosted by the Faculty of Sport, which addressed the issue of bubbles as a means of holding sporting events to safeguard against the coronavirus, spoke of the Caribbean’s unique position where football, like cricket, cannot be played in a bubble.

Having heard about the cost of West Indies cricket and the NBA, which is in the millions of dollars, close to maybe billions, it can’t happen in our region because we just can’t afford it,” McIntosh said.

In an article published in the Jamaica Gleaner, McIntosh said that having competitions in more controlled environments, with continuous testing, would be the direction going forward to restart football in the region, similar to how major European leagues operate.

“The approach that we have taken, moving from the contained biosecure bubble, is a contained environment with high-frequency testing. That is what is being used now in the English Premier League,” he said.

Guyana, like the rest of the Caribbean nation, is preparing for a hectic International season, as the Golden Jaguars, the country’s senior Men’s National football team, embark on qualification tournaments for the 2022 Qatar World Cup, and the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament.

Forde noted the importance of affording the local players, who are in contention for national duties selection, the best possible chance of showcasing their skills to the selection-panel and head coach, Marcio Maximo.