Pele Football Club, winners of the recent inaugural GT&T FastBall knock-out football competition along with other top performers received their cash prizes for their performances throughout the tournament.
The competition was described as a great success by the organizers and the public at large for the entertainment and excitement it brought to its fans.
Emerging as the only unbeaten team throughout the tournament which attracted 207 teams, the most for a single competition ever, Pele collected a cheque for a whopping one million dollars from Auditor of GT&T Company Sachin Persaud who congratulated the team for a job well done.
Pele FC had brushed aside BK International Western Tigers 3-0 in the final.
The second place prize of $500,000 went to BK International Western Tigers while the losing semi finalists, Bakewell Topp XX and Adam’s Rockers received $100,000 each.
The losing quarter final teams, Amelia’s Ward A, West Front Road, West Demerara United and Pioneers, each received $50,000. All the teams in the final round-of-32 also received promotional credit.
In the female category which saw four teams competing; The Trophy Stall All Stars line-up from Georgetown, which squeezed past Eagles United of Lethem 3-2 in the final, collected the first place prize of $100,000 with $50,000 going to Eagles.
Winner of the dove off competition, Ronson Williams, received a cheque for $500,000. Williams, the senior Golden Jaguars goalkeeper, who is also the number choice for national club champions, Alpha United, was unbeatable on the night of the final as he showcased his skills by doving the football over one thousand times. He was well rewarded for his efforts.
Also cashing in were Venus Havercome ($9,000) and Deborah Alleyne ($4,000), who participated in the text to dove competition and received $1000 for each dove.
Persaud, in brief remarks, thanked all the teams for participating in the historic competition and making it a success.
He also extended words of congratulations to all the officials and administrators for their support especially the residents of the various villages across Guyana who came out in their numbers to witness the matches as well as the awareness games.
“We at GT&T are very thankful to Guyana for the support given to this tournament. We are very satisfied that it achieved the aims we had set out which included reaching the grassroots players and giving them that opportunity to be able to play on the bigger stage and with the more accomplished teams,” he said.
“I must also say a big thank you to the Minister of Culture Youth and Sport and his Ministry, the Guyana Football Federation and our co-sponsors Banks DIH, Impressions and NCN for the roles they played in making the tournament a success,” said Persaud.
President (ag) of the Guyana Football Federation Franklin Wilson, thanked GT&T for its investment which he said would go a long way in aiding the growth of the sport in Guyana.
Wilson also thanked the teams for making the competition a success.
Kashif Muhammad stated that his organization felt it an honour and a privilege to put together a tournament that is here to stay and one which should grow even bigger for next year’s edition
The tournament was the brainchild of GT&T’s CEO Yog Mahadeo who said that he was pleased with the way the tournament was run by the Kashif & Shanghai Organisation with support from the Hits and Jam Entertainment Organisation which was responsible for the cultural aspect of the tournament.
