The Kashif and Shanghai Organisation yesterday issued a press statement in response to allegations of exploitation of clubs and players by president of Alpha United Football Club Odinga Lumumba.
Lumumba, who is also a Presidential Advisor on Empowerment in the ruling PPP/C government, on Saturday suggested that the organization raise the prize money based on the sponsorship it was receiving.
According to Lumumba, Ansa Mc All has donated over $15m, The Guyana telephone and Telegraph Company Limited, over $10m and the Demerara Distillers Limited approximately six million dollars. In all Lumumba argued that the organization has received over $35m.
As such, Lumumba argued the prize money should be increased from $2m to $4m dollars.
In the release the Kashif and Shanghai Organsisation declared that Lumumbaโs assertion that the organization has benefited from over $35m in sponsorship is untrue.
Following is the full release of the Kashif and Shanghai Organisation.
Separate articles published in the Sunday November 21, 2010 issue of the Stabroek News, the Kaieteur News and the Guyana Times attribute to Mr. Odinga Lumumba, President of the Alpha United Football Club, the view that players participating in the annual Kashif and Shanghai football tournament are inadequately compensated. Mr. Lumumba purports to be knowledgeable regarding details of financial sponsorship and makes his own recommendation regarding what the extent of the prizes should be.
The statements attributed to Mr. Lumumba in the aforementioned newspaper articles seek, unjustifiably, to tarnish the image of the Kashif and Shanghai Organisation and to create unwarranted controversy ahead of the forthcoming tournament. Further, they come at a time when the Kashif and Shanghai Organisation is seeking to add even greater value to the tournament by introducing additional incentives specifically for clubs and players.
Setting aside the fact that the prize monies for the 21st tournament have been increased by 100 per cent, we are, even now, engaged in negotiations with a United States-based sports marketing company, which, we expect, will add significantly to the value of the prizes available to players at the conclusion of the 2010/2011 tournament.
Our pursuit of a better deal for local football and more particularly for our players has not been confined to prizes and incentives associated with the tournament. The growth and development of several of our national players can be attributed to interventions made by the Kashif and Shanghai Organisation to enable them to secure places with semi-professional clubs in Trinidad and Tobago. Just a few days ago, we concluded arrangements for six
young local players to travel to Trinidad and Tobago to join other young players from the region whose skills are being assessed with a view to arranging trials for them at various European clubs. It is through initiatives like these and not simply through the tournament itself that we have added value to local football.
The hosting of the Brazilian legend King Pele by the Kashif and Shanghai Organization as Guest of Honor at our 20th tournament last year was undertaken at significant expense. This occurrence, the cost notwithstanding, is one which we will treasure forever as a special treat to loyal fans of the tournament.
In sum, we have, over the past 20 years, created a special product for football in Guyana. Each year, players and fans alike anticipate our tournament and what it has to offer in terms of both entertainment for spectators and rewards for players.
What concerns us particularly, is what we believe is an attempt to impact on the outlook of our sponsors, many of whom we have been associated with over a protracted period. Those relationships have been forged on the basis of a mutual recognition of the importance of the growth of both the tournament and the business houses that support it. The support of our sponsors reflects their satisfaction with our success in building a significant fan base for football in Guyana, thereby creating a firm platform for the marketing of their products and services. Through their patronage, they have endorsed our high degree of organisation, careful planning and our capacity to create an environment in which their products and services can be effectively marketed. We make no apologies for the successful relationships that we have developed with our sponsors, nor are we prepared to disclose the details of those sponsorship arrangements, we will, however, state as follows:
1. The assertion made by Mr. Lumumba that the 2010/2011 tournament has benefitted from more than $35m in sponsorship is, to put it simply, untrue.
2. The incremental demands of the tournament require us, each year, to seek to broaden the base of our sponsorship in order to garner resources with which to stage the tournament.
3. Even as our sponsors continue to demonstrate an interest in supporting the tournament, we simultaneously allocate more and more resources to rewarding clubs and individual players participating in the tournament.
The Government of Guyana has also publicly acknowledged the role which the Kashif and Shanghai Organisation has played in raising the standard of competition in local football and, importantly, in adding an exciting dimension to seasonal entertainment in Guyana. We remain appreciative of the personal and public support which the tournament has secured from His Excellency the President, the Honorable Minister of Sport and various other public officials and state agencies. We believe these to be acknowledgements of the contribution which the annual Kashif and Shanghai Football Tournament have made to the development of the game and to the enthusiastic participation of Guyanese of all walks of life in the tournament. Because we seek to provide participating clubs and players with the best that local football has to offer, the financial and logistical challenges associated with hosting the event grow with each passing year. Those who seek to question our commitment to clubs and players who participate in our tournament know little if anything about those challenges.
Costs, for example, include the rental of venues for the tournament, providing meals, accommodation and transportation for participating teams, meeting some of the costs associated with the participation of overseas-based teams, paying persons recruited to assist with the organisation of the annual event, paying officials involved in the administration of the games, marketing and advertising the tournament, meeting the cost of tickets printed for the tournament and financing the security arrangements for the tournament.
Teams and players qualifying for awards and prizes at the end of each tournament have received those promptly and without controversy. The same cannot be said for some of the other tournaments that have been organised in Guyana.
The Kashif and Shanghai Organisation will not allow detractors to undermine its efforts to continue to build on the gains that it has secured for football over the past twenty years. By the same token we wish to caution participating clubs, officials, fans and the media to guard against the attempts to discredit an event that is real and valuable and which has stood the test of time.
