Site visit and meeting held ahead of tomorrow’s opening action

THE first of two nights of football is set to be played at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence, tomorrow, under circumstances never before envisaged. Covid-19 has changed the way sports is done the world over, so the principals of the Bounce Back Football event are pulling out all the stops to ensure that the environment in and around the Stadium is fully in line with the measures and guidelines that have been put in place by the National Covid-19 Task Force. Fans would not be allowed to attend the matches as large gatherings are not permitted, but the organisers would be broadcasting the final, on New Year’s night, January 1st, 2021, live via NCN Ch. 11, Enetworks and the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport Facebook page.

Yesterday’s meeting and site visit, which sought to bring all the relevant groups up to speed with plans and to ensure that everyone is singing from the same song sheet, was attended by representatives of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF), Kashif and Shanghai Organisation (K&S), Ministry of Culture Youth and Sport (MCY&S), Covid-19 Task Force, Film Production Team, Promotional Team, Hits and Jams Entertainment, Sanitisation Team, Private Security and Stadium Management. GFF president, Wayne Forde, expressed satisfaction at the outcome of the meeting. “I was thoroughly briefed by the Bounce Back event Operations Team and am very pleased with the pace at which things are falling into place. We will certainly learn quite a lot from these two days of football, which will definitely improve our understanding of how to organise football events amidst a pandemic.”

K&S Director, Kashif Muhammad, said that planning for any event is vital, let alone an event of this nature that has never been undertaken before. “This meeting was of utmost importance in the scheme of things as we embark on this Bounce Back initiative. We can never do enough in terms of planning, so we met and combed through all the areas that need to be touched whilst inspecting the field and other areas at the stadium that would be used over the two days. It’s a lot of work that needs to be done, but we are all capable in our respective areas to get the job done and present to the fans and supporters an event that they will thoroughly enjoy come New Year’s night, January 1st, 2021.” All Star teams from East Coast, West Demerara, Linden and the City will collide tomorrow evening with the respective winners from tomorrow set to collide in the final on New Year’s night.