Guyana Football Federation (GFF) General Secretary Noel Adonis said yesterday that West Demerara giants Slingerz FC, winners of this year’s Georgetown Football Association’s Banks Beer Cup football tournament, will not be eligible to participate in the upcoming Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Club Championships.
Speaking via telephone during an exclusive interview, Adonis stated: “No they are not eligible. They should have been in the top league of the federation in either the current or previous one.”
Adonis added: “The one thing is that the initial submission would have had to be done to facilitate the December 31st 2013 deadline and they would not have submitted an application at the time.”
Questioned if the club’s then probationary status would have hindered their chances to enter the event, Adonis said: “That would not have affected their eligibility.
“Based on the GFF constitution, once one would have been accepted on a probationary basis, they are entitled to all the benefits of being full members except for voting.”
The long-serving GFF executive stated that all the teams that would have participated or are participating in the GFF National League would have been eligible to enter the regional event.
“If the top two teams did not acknowledge their willingness to participate in that event, the other clubs which were part of the league could have stepped up,” explained Adonis.
The tournament, which was open to all champions and runners-up from each respective member association’s premier league, runs from March 21-April 20, 2014 and will feature 13 clubs from nine CFU member states.
The 13 participants are Bodden Town (Cayman Islands), Centro Dominguito (Curacao), USR Sainte-Rose (Guadeloupe), Alpha United (Guyana), Mirebalais (Haiti), Valencia (Haiti), Harbour View (Jamaica), Waterhouse (Jamaica), Bayamon (Puerto Rico), Inter Moengotapoe (Suriname), Notch (Suriname), Defence Force (Trinidad and Tobago) and Caledonia AIA (Trinidad and Tobago).
Alpha United will feature in Group-3 which comprises Harbour View, Defence Force and Notch. These fixtures will be contested in Jamaica at the Harbour View Stadium. Group-1 which will be hosted by Puerto Rico will feature the likes of Bayamón, Bodden Town, Centro Dominguito and USR Sainte-Rose.
Group-2 which comprises Mirebalais, Waterhouse, Inter Moengotapoe and Caledonia AIA, will be played in Haiti. Haitian side Valencia was given a bye to the final round as the best performer among the entrants both in the previous 2013 CFU Club Championship and the 2013–14 CONCACAF Champions League.
Following the conclusion of the two rounds of group stages, the eventual finalists and winner of the third place matchup of the event will advance to CONCACAF Champions League.
