The Plus One deal took another twist yesterday with the Kashif & Shanghai Organisation (K&SO) co-director Aubrey ‘Shanghai’ Major saying that all grievances between the organisation and the local clubs have been settled.
In addition, Major stated that the organisation is in “full blast” for the 22nd edition of the end-of-year football tournament.
According to Major, the K&SO has settled with Alpha United is in the process of finalising the Pele settlement. Major said that there were meetings with representatives of Alpha and Pele and all the contentious matters were settled.
Major noted, however, that members of the media will not be privy to what was offered to settle the matter with the clubs but if “we (members of the media) want to call the clubs we can but the matter is settled.”
When asked whether it was true that Alpha was offered $2M, Major said “there was a settlement.”
Asked to comment on whether there was any government intervention to help foot the bill, Major chuckled and said that “he does not know of any government help.” He also said that from K&SO’s standpoint “all the parties are happy with the settlement.”
The K&SO, according to Major, decided to settle with the clubs since it was their responsibility and “they recognised that it was their loss since they could not wait any longer on the company.”
Major said that the organisation will not be making any other deals with overseas companies unless whatever they are proposing to provide is in the country.
“We will have to see something tangible ahead of time and we are not taking that chance again. We will not let this matter rest,” Major added.
Further, Major said that K&SO will not take the Plus One deal lying down, admitting they will be letting other countries know.
When Stabroek Sport had contacted Alpha United president Odinga Lumumba he had said that the two bodies had reached a settlement and “it was something he could live with.”
Lumumba did not reveal more information about what had transpired during talks with K&SO directors Kashif Muhammad and Major two weeks ago.
When Stabroek Sport contacted Pele president Carey Jacques he had stated that the K&SO was going to make a proposal for a settlement but subsequent calls to contact Jacques were futile.
The K&SO brokered a deal with overseas company Plus One last November to supplement the prize monies for the four winning teams and the Most Valuable Player (MVP). But to date the company has not honoured its commitment to the organisers and clubs, which had prompted Lumumba, president of Alpha United, to threaten court action to discontinue the tournament because of the constant run-around in terms of fulfilling the agreement.
These statements had pushed the K&SO on the back foot with Major outlining that the organisation would buy the kits for the clubs if Plus One failed to deliver on its November agreement.
In last year’s deal it was agreed that the first place team will receive $5M in kit sponsorship over a two-year period to supplement the $2M cash prize while kits for second, third and fourth place finishers were to the tune of $2M, $200,000 and $50,000 respectively.
However, yesterday Major said that the original arrangement between K&SO and Plus One was for the top two teams of the tournament and the MVP to receive prizes. When questioned further on the organisation’s declaration that four teams will be receiving prizes Major said that “it was a misunderstanding.”
He did not qualify where the misunderstanding arose.
Meanwhile, Major said that the organisation has started their preparation for the tournament, which is scheduled to kick off on December 11. He revealed that the organisers are looking to bring in three overseas teams, “two being the minimum.”
Major, who is also the Organising Secretary of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF), said that the tournament will be launched this month-end, adding that the prize packages will be more lucrative than last year. He did not say whether there would be increases in prize monies but he promised that “prizes will be lucrative.”
