Minister of Sport Dr. Frank Anthony and President of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Colin Klass yesterday conceded that the visit of Brazilian soccer legend ‘King Pele’ who is set to arrive in Guyana next Saturday, as a guest of honour at the 20th Kashif and Shanghai Tournament is without doubt one of the greatest events for football in Guyana.
Speaking at a press conference yesterday hosted at Duke Lodge by the Kashif and Shanghai organisation, the Sports Minister spoke of his government’s involvement in getting the football icon to Guyana.
“With Pele coming here for me it is one of the greatest things that could happen to local football, he is a legend around the world and I’m certain he is going to be an inspiration not just to the generation that saw him play, but having him here in the country, I think he is going to inspire our young players to go out there and do even better,” Dr. Anthony said.
He added that the Kashif and Shanghai organisation should be congratulated for their efforts, knowing how difficult it was in setting up Pele’s visit.
“Having ‘King Pele’ come to Guyana it’s really a big deal. I understand that when he learnt that clubs in Guyana was named after him and his achievement he was very excited about that and that was one of main reasons he wanted to come and see the quality of play and the great honour of having these clubs named after him and that was one of his requests in seeing these clubs,” the Sport Minister said.
Klass said that Pele’s visit to Guyana has more significance than just football, since it could also improve the relationship between Guyana and Brazil and he could also bring to life the dreams of many young football fans and players.
“I think ever so often, our youngsters do not have enough role models and Pele’s visit will undoubtedly leave a mark on the youngsters,” said Klass.
He added: “That is why I’m emphasising that more of our young people have this opportunity and something to look forward to and know that it is not a dream. They heard about Pele, they heard about this great man and the football talent that he had.”
It was stated that while here, the Brazilian will be taken to much of the inner city areas to give him a glimpse of where the die-hard football players and fans come from, just like his own upbringing in Brazil.
“Pele came from the ghetto so going through and passing in those environs, they will see that you too can make it. So i think it has far reaching effects not only for football and I’m happy not only for the football aspect but the fact that it can also enhance relationships in Guyana and that is most important to me because ultimately the benefit to Guyana is more important.”
$15 million
It is estimated that the football legend’s visit to Guyana had cost the Kashif and Shanghai organisation $15M but to this Co-Director Kashif Muhammed said it was worth every single cent that was spent and to them, making a return was secondary in their thinking.
“We feel that the expense of ‘King Pele’, we can get most of it back from the gates at the stadium, even if we fall short in a little way financially, it is worth it for Guyana because of the greatness of ‘King Pele’. It is like bringing Nelson Mandela, even if you lose a million or two in bringing Mandela you wouldn’t even miss that because so much was won in the whole process, so we are going the extra mile,” Muhammed said.
However, the organisation’s co-director said that luckily for them, several functions will be held in honour of Pele being here and all of them will be sponsored by the Government of Guyana, the Ministry of Tourism, the Brazilian embassy and the GFF.
President of the Private Sector Commission (PSC) Gerry Gouveia, who is tasked with bringing Edson Arantes do Nascimento to Guyana, said that to date all arrangements are in place on his airline, Roraima Airways.
“It’s going to be a seven hours flight from Sao Paulo, Brazil to Guyana with one stop in Manaus. So we are expecting him to arrive somewhere about 12:00 pm that day (December 12). But our particular task at Roraima Airways as it relates to the aircraft’s security and so on in Guyana is well on stream,” Gouveia said.
