-Today’s scheduled start of Group `B’ matches of the Digicel Caribbean Cup football tournament has been postponed to Friday because of the non-arrival of team Dominica
The staging of the Group `B’ matches of the Digicel Caribbean Cup among hosts Guyana, Suriname and Dominica, already affected by a lack of planning by the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) suffered another setback yesterday with the news that the Dominica team had encountered flight problems and would be unable to arrive in time for this evening’s scheduled match against Guyana.
The news came via a release from sponsors Digicel through the public relations firm,Tagman Inc.
According to the release, all games involving Guyana, Suriname and Dominica will now be played under floodlights at the Guyana National Stadium from Friday to Sunday.
The opening clash between Guyana and Dominica will now take place on Friday while Dominica and Suriname will battle in game two on Saturday. Guyana will then go head-to-head with Suriname on Sunday in the last game of the group.
“This, unfortunately, is not the GFF’s fault,” a source told Stabroek Sport last evening.
According to the source, there were lots of activity around this time with Antigua celebrating its Carnival and, as a result, there were huge flight problems.
The source said they were looking at alternative options in case there were any hiccups and that while Dominica was scheduled to fly here commercially they would charter a flight if that became the only available option.
“Digicel is making every effort to assist the team with arrangements to get here in time for the new dates,” the source added.
Each country is responsible for flight arrangements to get to Guyana and the Suriname team is expected this morning from Springlands.
The source told Staroek Sport that every effort was being made by the stakeholders, including the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) the Dominica and Guyana federations and the sponsors to try and get the team here in time for the new dates.
The delay might be a blessing in disguise for the national team, the Golden Jaguars who have not been able to do much ball work because of the current rainy weather even though they trained yesterday at the National Stadium at Providence.
GFF Technical Director, Jamaal Shabazz, says that “the players expressed tremendous enthusiasm during the last two days of practice.”
He added:”The players are looking forward to Friday’s game with great eagerness and being able to practice at the National Stadium was even more motivating. “
According to Shabazz:”The Guyana team is also anxious to play for Guyanese supporters. This is our time to pick ourselves up from the dust. The Guyana flag should be hoisted high on Friday and Sunday as the Golden Jaguars shine. The Digicel Caribbean Championships means a lot to us. It is the tournament that puts Guyana on the FIFA map again and we are grateful for that opportunity.”
Digicel Head of Marketing, Donovan White told Stabroek Sport:“the Digicel Caribbean Championships is the largest football tournament in the Caribbean and we are delighted at the opportunity to have Guyana host Group B set for kick off on August 8 at the National Stadium.”
He added:“Judging from the energy of the Golden Jaguars at practice under the watchful eyes of Coach Shabazz we are anticipating good football in all three games of Group B. We want to urge Guyanese to come out to the stadium on Friday evening and witness their team play under floodlights for the first time in Guyana.
The Digicel Caribbean Championships kicked off in Curacao on July 27. The tournament will run over a five-month period, culminating in what is sure to be another exciting final in Jamaica in December.
