Alpha United Football Club president Odinga Lumumba has until today to respond to the Guyana Football Federation’s (GFF) memo on whether his club will be playing in the Kashif & Shanghai football tournament that is scheduled to begin on December 12.
Lumumba first announced that he was not allowing his team to participate in the tournament since he deemed the $2 million first prize as unreasonable. This was against the backdrop of a groundswell of corporate support which the K&S organisers Kashif Mohammed and Aubrey Major received this year.
The K&S organisers last week had accepted the decision of Lumumba to pull his team out of the tournament.
However the GFF on Monday issued a memo to the clubs that had been initially approved by the association and K&S Organisation for participation in the tournament and they have until today to respond.
This development came after the Clubs for Negotiation (CFN) had met with K&S organisers on Sunday to iron out concerns over an increase in the preparation fee from $50,000 and the possible inclusion of the Alpha United club.
The GFF acted as the mediator in the process between the two bodies.
Out of those talks the CFN managed to negotiate the increase in the preparation fee for the clubs from $50,000 to $120,000, of which $60,000 will be paid in advance.
Should Lumumba reply favourably to the GFF his team will participate but if he sticks to his initial decision then the standby team Ann’s Grove Football Club will be formally notified by the GFF.
Yesterday when Stabroek Sport contacted Lumumba for a comment, he said that he should be contacted today while the K&S Organisation said that they will issue a statement at a later date.
Yesterday when Stabroek Sport spoke to General Secretary of the GFF Noel Adonis he said that Alpha ‘The Hammer’ United club did not officially inform the governing body of its intention to pull out of the 21st Kashif & Shanghai football tournament.
Therefore, although Lumumba had publicly stated that he was pulling his team from the tournament because he wanted an increase in prize monies, he will have to make a formal decision today.
