The Marriott Hotel is the venue for the commencement of the two-day 2019 FIFA Conference on Development held by the Guyana Football Federation in collaboration with the Guyana Government through the Department of Tourism and the Tourism Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG).
The forum, which concludes tomorrow, is expected to be attended by all 25 member associations of Caribbean Football Union [CFU] as well as the six non-member states.
Several African nations are expected to participate in the inaugural event, which will feature the entire FIFA Development Committee.
The event is of significant importance, with one of the key areas of discussion being the possible implementation of a comprehensive regional school football programme.
According to FIFA, the Development Committee is assigned to develop programmes for the respective federations. They are also mandated to analyse the strategies devised for the respective member associations and confederations.
The FIFA Forward Programme is one of the many initiatives of the Development Committee. It was adopted on May 9th 2016 at the FIFA Congress and has become the global development program especially for emerging nations.
FIFA Forward is built to provide an encompassing tailor-made support for the sport’s development in the respective member association and confederations. It is based on three simple principles; more investment, more impact, and more oversight.
According to GFF president Wayne Forde, the visit by FIFA president Gianni Infantino to Guyana in 2017 saw extensive discussions on the possibility of a Regional Schools football programme taking place with CARICOM Secretary-General, Irwin LaRocque, with the upshot being today’s programme.
Meanwhile Donald Sinclair, Director-General of the Department of Tourism, Donald Sinclair has noted the relationship between sports and tourism and has pledged the support of the department to the development of sports tourism locally while President of Tourism Hospitality Association of Guyana, Mitra Ramkumar pointed out that sport tourism is a huge market with tremendous benefits for Guyana.
