Guyana’s preparation for the first round of the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers took a positive step after several local national players tested negative for the Covid-19 virus following a testing process implemented by the Guyana Football Federation (GFF).
This was revealed by a source close to the management team who spoke on the condition of anonymity. According to the source, the federation is in possession of the respective results of the players following submission to the team manager and all the players have tested negative.
The source said that the results were submitted individually last week to the manager with December 2nd initially scheduled as the final day for submission.
“All the players had to uplift their results and take it to the manager. Different players had to go on different days but the results had to be submitted by last week Wednesday [December 2nd]. Practically all of the players have tested negative, I am unsure if anyone has tested positive but most of the players if not all to date have tested negative. The GFF has all the results already, we just have to confirm a date to start based on approval from the Task Force,” said the source.
With the objective of commencing training for the World Cup Qualifiers, the GFF tested several national team players and members of the management staff for the Covid-19 virus during the month of November. According to the source, among the players that were tested were Marcus Wilson, Daniel Wilson, Sheldon Holder, Pernell Schultz, Kelsey Benjamin, Kevin Dundas, Curtez Kellman and Raphael Edwards. Denzil Hernandes, Charles Pollard and Rawle Adams of the management team were also examined.
Presently the GFF is awaiting approval from the National Covid-19 Task Force before starting preparation for the prestigious championship. The Guyanese have been drawn in Group-F in the first stage of the Concacaf World Cup Qualifiers, a pool which contains traditional rival Trinidad and Tobago, St. Kitts and Nevis, Puerto Rico and the Bahamas.
Guyana will open their campaign away to Trinidad and Tobago on March 25th before hosting The Bahamas on March 30th. In their third match, Guyana will travel to St. Kitts and Nevis on June 4th before ending their group round at home on June 8th against Puerto Rico.
