GUYANA’S home game on March 30, in the Qatar 2022 World Cup Qualifiers against The Bahamas, will now take place in the Dominican Republic, president of the Guyana Football Federation, Wayne Forde, announced yesterday.
The move by the GFF follows that of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA), who had to shift their March 25 clash against Guyana from Port-of-Spain, to Santo Domingo.

Speaking at a press conference hosted at their National Training Centre at Providence, Forde said Guyana’s decision to host their clash against The Bahamas at the Felix Sanchez Olympic Stadium, was influenced by the forced-decision taken by the TTFA.
The Dr Keith Rowley-led Government’s Ministry of Health (MOH) chief medical officer (CMO), Dr Roshan Parasram, had ruled that a proposal by the TTFA fell short of local COVID-19 regulations.
Also, with Guyana having a number of UK-based players in their squad, Forde said the move will also provide the Golden Jaguars the possibility of having some of their best players available.

“We are also somewhat hamstrung by the UK’s decision to place Guyana on its COVID-19 “red list” of banned countries,” Forde said. “This decision means that clubs would not be able or willing to release players for travel to Guyana. We are grateful to the Dominican Republic Football Association for accommodating us, and we have the full cooperation of The Bahamas Football Association, CONCACAF and FIFA in this matter.”
The GFF president noted, “It is obviously disappointing to not be able to host a home match this time around, but we are hopeful that conditions will allow this in the next window in June.”

Disappointed at not being able to play at home, Forde did highlight that the move to play in the Dominican Republic, will come at some additional cost. The overall operational cost will see the GFF spending a total of $27M, plus an additional US10 000, payable to the Dominican Republic Football Association.
Because of the dates involved and ongoing travel challenges, Forde told the media that GFF had to charter a flight to and from the Dominican Republic, at a cost of $12M (included in operational cost).

Guyana will depart Guyana on March 17, and will return on March 31, with Forde being confident that the Dominican Republic “will provide a professional and safe environment, alongside CONCACAF’S strict match day testing schedule.”
COVID-19 protocols across the Caribbean have forced the various football associations and federations to make adjustments to their home fixture for the World Cup Qualifiers.

Barbados will be playing their home game in the Dominican Republic after the Barbados Football Association (BFA), similarly, could not have gotten approval from their government to play home matches in the ‘Land of the Flying Fish’.
Suriname will also play their home games on the Spanish-speaking Island, at the Pan American Stadium in San Cristobal.
Antigua and Barbuda and Montserrat are set to face-off in the US Virgin Islands, while St Vincent and the Grenadines will use Curaçao for their home games.
The Golden Jaguars were drawn in Group F of the Qualifier alongside Trinidad and Tobago, The Bahamas, Puerto Rico and St Kitts & Nevis.