Guyana’s international friendly football match against Suriname scheduled for today is “still on” despite the COVID-19 blow involving Barbados, the other team involved in the tri-nation tournament hosted by the Dutch speaking nation.
This is according to President of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF), Wayne Forde.
Forde told this publication yesterday that “Suriname FA is doing everything possible working with the health authorities to ensure that the match is played.”
He added “As for now, it is still on .”
On Sunday, Guyana’s return to the international football circuit suffered an unexpected and disappointing result after their international friendly encounter against traditional Caribbean rival Barbados was abandoned in the 33rd minute, following the confirmation of several positive COVID-19 results.
The match was abandoned by the officials 12 minutes before the end of the first half.
According to information emanating from the Flora Stadium in Paramaribo, four players from the Barbados team tested positive for COVID-19. In a Facebook post on their official page, the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) confirmed the outcome, stating:
“The senior men’s national team friendly match against Barbados in Suriname has been abandoned during the first half with the score at 0-0. During the game, it emerged that several Barbadian players involved in the match had returned positive COVID results following tests conducted today [yesterday] for travel purposes.”
The termination of the fixture transpired during a water break. It is unclear why the match was allowed to commence by the local federation without the confirmation of the respective player statuses. Similarly, it is unknown as to the type of tests, whether PCR or Antigen, that were conducted on players of both sides.
On Friday, the host defeated Barbados 1-nil in the first match of the tourney.
Due to the resulting status of several members of the Barbados team, the possibility exists that several players and officials from the host nation have also been infected.
This could lead to the possible cancellation of the Guyana and Suriname encounter, which is scheduled for today, if both nations suffer unfortunate infections. Stabroek Sport will keep readers updated as events unfold.
