The Kashif and Shanghai Organisation says it will purchase kits for the winners of the end-of-year football tournament if the Plus One company does not honour its commitment to donate the sports gear as was promised, says Co-director Aubrey ‘Shanghai’ Major.
Major said on Monday that they have been receiving many excuses from the overseas-based company relating to the agreed items, which were brokered in a deal last November, but to date they have not delivered on the commitment eight months after the completion of the year end K&S tournament.
Major, who is also the Organising Secretary of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF), reiterated that his organisation has been in constant contact with the company.
In the November deal it was agreed that the company will provide the four top teams of the competition with kits, with the first place team identified to receive $5M worth of gear. Alpha United won the tournament and its president Odinga Lumumba had threatened legal action against the K&S Organisation due to what he had called “disrespect and a royal run-around by the organizers.”
Runners-up Pele should have received $3M worth of equipment while the other two teams should have received equipment to the tune of $1M and $500,000 respectively.
“We are in contact with Plus One on a daily basis and we think that we are getting a lot of excuses but the Kashif & Shanghai Organisation has committed itself that if Plus One do not deliver by a certain time based on the estimation we think has been too long, we would then go and purchase the uniforms,“ declared Major.
“We (K&SO) have already decided that because we stand to our word, we trust the Plus One Company would have been down here to do its own presentation and they haven’t delivered as yet. So if it comes to a time that we think is reasonable we will buy the kits,” Major re-iterated.
Major had earlier said that the organisation was finalising arrangements with the company and was optimistic that a positive word would have been received by Tuesday when Plus One representatives were expected with India’s football team for a international friendly match with the Golden Jaguars last evening at the Guyana National Stadium.
However, the representatives were a no-show, leaving the K&S Organisation to defend its credibility. Major said, “When it comes to credibility, Kashif & Shanghai are not like the others; we always deliver on our promises.”
The Kashif & Shanghai Organisation has also appealed to clubs to be more patient as it was continuing negotiations with the foreign company. This appeal came after Lumumba had threatened legal action against the organisers, with the worst case scenario of seeking an injunction to stop the K&S football tournament.
The organisers in a statement had stated that they had enlisted the help of the GFF to resolve the Plus One imbroglio as quickly as possible, especially in light of the GFF signing a four-year renewable sponsorship deal with the company in January in excess of US$350,000 annually.
On the other hand, questions have been raised about the exact location of the company.
Major had said that is was located somewhere outside Miami but internet searches for addresses were futile. It stated though that the company was founded in 2004 by SUNCU Trading and Investment Group (STIG).
When it was first conceptualized it was to cater to casual wear fashion before it embarked on developing football gear. In September 2006 Hong Kong International investment banker Henry Mark Sui-Lin put together a proposal for well over US$112M in a bid to take controlling interest of the SUNCU Trading and Investment Group HK Ltd.
The acquisition was successfully completed by March 2007 and is now part of his business empire, Pembrook Group.
