FIFA Forward Project officially commissioned

The Guyana Football Federation (GFF), officially commissioned their first FIFA Forward Project at the site of the National Training Centre yesterday during a simple but significant inauguration ceremony.

The event occurred in the presence of the GFF Executive Committee, Director of Sports Christopher Jones, FIFA Director of Member Associations and Development Veron Mosgengo-Omba and participants and delegates of the FIFA Conference on Development which gets underway today at the Mariott Hotel.

The facility is being constructed at the Providence Community Centre Ground in two phases.

The first phase of the project will be the installation of an artificial turf and the second phase will see infrastructure such as stands, lights, beach, Futsal training pitches, mini pitches and an administrative centre for the headquarters of the GFF being erected.

Former head of the GFF Normalization Committee, Clinton Urling, had brokered an agreement between the GFF and the Eccles/Ramsburg Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) for the location and was granted a 30-year lease for the land.

Speaking yesterday, GFF President Wayne Forde said, “Today’s commissioning ceremony will barely underscore the symbolic significance of the GFF successfully completing its first FIFA FORWARD, all-weather artificial field.

“To many we are finally delivering on a promise made almost three decades ago, to some, it is a proud achievement for the local Football family and to others, it is an appropriate reminder of the limitless potential, of a stable and unified Football fraternity. Through the FIFA Forward programme, we have had both the opportunity and privilege to render ourselves to the unfinished work of those that served before us,” he added.

Forde said that the absence of quality facilities have directly impacted the development of the sport, adding, “football cannot fully develop without proper playing surfaces, changing rooms and field lighting. We have set ourselves an ambitious target, to construct one artificial field in each of our nine Regional Association, over the next five years. This task must not be left to FIFA and the GFF alone, we need the Government of Guyana and Corporate Guyana to play their role.”

FIFA’s Director of Member Associations and Development Mosgengo-Omba, declared that the realisation of the facility correlates with the vision of FIFA which is to aid in the development of emerging nations through initiatives such as the Forward Programme.

He revealed that the world governing body was proud of the work and course being charted by the current administration, adding that the entity aims to foster and build a strong relationship with the Guyana Government.

Meanwhile, Director of Sports Christopher Jones stated that Government of Guyana welcomes the developmental initiatives of both FIFA and the GFF, while adding that they are committed to the development of the sport which is evident in the attempt to establish a facility at the Durban Park area.

“The government of Guyana recognises the importance of sports development, in which young people in this country will have an opportunity to exercise, to participate, to build and of course to provide to opportunity where the GFF will get to scout for talent throughout the length and breadth of this country…I am here to reaffirm the Government’s commitment, to president  Wayne Forde and the GFF, where it is necessary and where land needs to be available to them, we want you to rest assure that such will be done,” said Jones.

The saga of Guyana’s first FIFA funded football facility has been long and tortuous with many stops and starts in the 17 years since Guyana was first identified as one of the countries to benefit from a US$400,000 football facility.

In 1999, Guyana, Belize, the Bahamas, Nicaragua and St Lucia were listed as countries to benefit from FIFA’s new initiative, the ‘Goal Project’ and two years later, former FIFA president Sepp Blatter visited Guyana for the historic turning of the sod for what was thought to be this country’s first football stadium on land under the control of the University of Guyana.

But, in one of the most embarrassing moments in this country’s football history the sod was never turned. Blatter was to later inform media operatives here that FIFA does not build stadia.

The building of stadia, he had declared, was the responsibility of governments. This was in stark contrast to what the then government had been told which was that FIFA was going to fund the stadium at a cost of US$20m.

In 2009 it was announced that Alki Investment and Trading Company Inc., had won the bid to construct the facility at Orangestein, East Bank Essequibo and that the project was scheduled to commence in November of that year.

Following Klass’ removal from office in the wake of the infamous cash for votes scandal which also toppled head of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) and CONCACAF, Franklin Wilson, then the most senior vice president of the GFF assumed the post of GFF president and in 2013 managed to receive a commitment from FIFA for US$500,000 for the same project.

Wilson was replaced by Christopher Matthias who subsequently decided that the Orangestein Project was not feasible and sought a plot of land behind the Synthetic Track at Leonora and FIFA subsequently replaced Matthias by the Urling led Normalisation Committee, which then brokered the deal for the land at Providence.