With the East Bank Demerara Football Association (EBDFA) confirming prize money and the resumption of the senior’s men’s league following a lengthy suspension, traditional giant Agricola Red Triangle, has stated that they will continue to participate, after initially threatening to withdraw from the event.
Assistant Secretary/Treasurer and Team Vice-Captain Kacy John confirmed the team’s continued involvement.
“We will not pull out now because the association has fixed the issues, they have set everything right with the prize money and the fixtures for the event to resume,” he declared.
Agricola had threatened to withdraw from the competition, which has not been played in several weeks, citing the uncertainty surrounding prize money, as the main reason for their possible exodus. The tournament is divided into two groups. Presently, Agricola are comfortably perched atop group-B with a record of seven wins and one draw.
Orin Angoy, President of the EBDFA, disclosed, “It [the league] will be running this weekend.”
Asked if the GFF provided any financial assistance to resume the league, he said, “The GFF had nothing to do with us not running the league, from the beginning they gave us assistance but we have not had any transaction with them recently. We didn’t have any cause to reach out to them, sponsors came on board. It’s who we were waiting on.”
An official correspondence was sent to the respective club presidents and secretaries by the association’s secretary Clayton Lambert, which stated, “I am pleased to inform you that the EBFA Senior League will resume on Sunday October 9th at 10:00hrs and end on Sunday 30th October.”
The National Training Centre in Providence will serve as the primary facility for the event, with the Timehri Red ground acting as the backup venue.
The eventual winner will pocket $200,000, and a trophy, whilst the second, and third place finisher will receive $100,000 and $50,000 respectively, and the corresponding accolade. On the other hand, the fourth place side will receive a trophy. On the individual side, the Most Valuable Player, and the Highest Goal Scorer will walk away with a pair of cleats respectively, while the Best Goalkeeper will collect a pair of gloves.
