With only days remaining for launch of the GFF Stag Beer Elite League, the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) remains tight lipped on the financial aspects of the tourney as well as who will be awarded the event’s lucrative management contract.
The inaugural event, which is expected to commence on September on 18th at the Leonora Track and Field facility, will consist of eight teams from several associations across the country. The tourney is expected to last the duration of eight months.
The competing clubs are Alpha United, Bakewell Slingerz, the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), Pele FC, Georgetown Football Club (GFC), Monedderlust FC, Buxton United and Fruta Conquerors.
In an invited comment, Director of Marketing and Communications Rawle Toney, when asked what was the overall budget for the tourney and whether the Kashif and Shanghai Organization were the favourites to land the contract following a tendering process said: “With regards to the Elite League, all details, especially those that the GFF deemed as public information, will be made known at the launch of the league on Saturday.”
Recently the federation held discussions with Minister of State Joseph Harmon on the mechanisms surrounding the event as well as soliciting their financial support, according to a press release from the GFF.
The GFF was represented by Normalisation Committee chairman Clinton Urling, vice chairman Dr. Karen Pilgrim and Technical Director Claude Bolton.
Harmon, in pledging government’s support, declared that he would like to see a “clear, tangible programme that says we are going to pay attention to these young men and women who play football.”
Questioned how much money the GFF was lobbying for from the government, Toney hedged: “The meeting with Minister of State Joseph Harmon was clear and everything that was stated in the release was exactly what we discussed.”
Nonetheless, sources close to the federation are alleging that the management of the event has become an issue with several clubs voicing their disapproval at the possibility of the Kashif and Shanghai Organization being awarded the contract.
According to the sources, several participating clubs have signaled their
dissatisfaction due to the perceived conflict of interest surrounding the veteran promotional group possibly acquiring the league’s management contract.
The sources allege that the majority of the eight competing clubs would have signalled their disapproval to the committee.
The sources further said that the clubs’ disapproval stems from the fact that the Co-Director of the Kashif and Shanghai Organization, Kashif Mohammed was a member of the GFF Club Licensing Committee which selected the clubs that acquired the licenses to play in the event.
He was also a member of the federation’s Competitions Committee which was responsible for structuring the event.
The sources are firm in the belief that the organization is widely tipped to be awarded the lucrative contract to run the league which is allegedly worth millions.
Additionally, several of the clubs are of the opinion that the organization should not be considered to run the event or should even have been allowed to bid for the management contract because of their close involvement with creating the framework of the league.
The disgruntled clubs are of the belief that the entity would have been privy to confidential information on the league, which no other management group that submitted their bid would have had access to.
The promotional group, which is known for their long standing football event of the same name, is widely expected to be named shortly as the successful applicant by the federation at the event’s official launch on Saturday.
The invitation for tender for the GFF Elite League was commissioned on Wednesday July 29th via a publication in another form of print media (Kaieteur News).
According to the advertisement, the successful applicant will acquire the official management rights of the event and will be responsible, under the guidance of the federation for the match day operations of the event.
In terms of the criteria for the tender, the advertisement said that an overview of the company must be submitted along with a comprehensive cost proposal and evidence of previous work in the organization and running of football tournaments. The submission deadline for the tenders were August 10th.
Stabroek Sport understands that there were only two bids.