Despite declaring that the upcoming Stag Beer Elite League is the most lucrative tourney ever in Guyana at its grand launch last week, the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) has yet to announce the management contract’s successful applicant although reportedly budgeting over $50 million dollars to run the event.
According to sources close to the Normalization Committee, the total budget of the league supposedly hovers in the 55-67 million dollars range.
The sources noted that this figure includes the management contract money which is reportedly valued between 5-10 million and the prize monies for the respective finishers in the two round event which is 15 million dollars in total.
The sources said that while the federation has not officially announced who is the successful applicant for the contract and the contract’s official value, the Kashif and Shanghai Organization is expected to be successful in their bid.
According to the sources, the veteran promotional group of Kashif Muhammad and Aubrey `Shanghai’ Major had for years run off easily the best and biggest local football tournament known as the Kashif and Shanghai Xmas extravaganza.
The astute promotional group was allegedly one of only two tenders to run the event and is projected to secure the contract due to their lower bid to run the operations of the tournament.
According to our sources, the bid by the second organization was in the region of 20-30 million dollars, which was significantly higher than the Kashif and Shanghai Organization’s tender.
The inaugural event, which is expected to commence September 18th, will consist of eight teams from several associations across the country. The event 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.
Each team will play 14 matches in a home and away format. The first round which is dubbed League Genesis, will pit the top four finishers at the conclusion of the allotted games against each other in single knockout format to decide the winner of the round.
The point’s leader will faceoff with the fourth placed side while the second positioned club will tackle the third positioned unit.
The eventual winner of the League Genesis round, will walk away with $4,000,000 while the second, third and fourth place teams will collect $2,000,000, $1,000,000 and $500,000 respectively.
Similarly, the point’s leader prior to the knockout stage in the League Genesis round will pocket an additional $1,000,000. In the second round which is called the League Finale, the same method will be utilized with an elimination tourney between the top four deciding the victor.
The winner will also pocket $4,000,000 while the second, third and fourth place teams will collect $2,000,000, $1,000,000 and $500,000 correspondingly.
Identical to the first round, the point’s leader at the end of the League Finale allotted matches will pocket a further $1,000,000. In total, the prize monies for the event accumulates to $15,000,000, with a team possibly earning as much as $10,000,000.
Winner of the League Genesis and League Finale will then play in a single match to decide the actual season champion of the league. The eventual season champion will automatically earn the first berth to represent Guyana at the CFU level.
If the winner of the League Genesis and League Finale rounds are the same team, they will earn the automatic CFU spot while the team with the most accumulated points in both rounds non-inclusive of the eventual season champion will earn the second berth.