One Guyana President’s Cup Football
Guyana Football Federation (GFF) General Secretary Ian Alves has confirmed that the prize money and player stipends for the inaugural ‘One Guyana President’s Cup’ are yet to be paid, despite the conclusion of the tournament on January 1st.
In a brief comment with Stabroek Sport yesterday, Alves said, “We have received communication that the government is collecting the money from the sponsors for distribution. It is not only the prize money but also players’ stipend, none of the financials have been paid out at this moment.”
Asked if this information has been communicated to all the participating teams, Alves said, “Those that have communicated with us, that information was shared to them that we are waiting to receive.” Alves did not reveal the total amount owed to the teams or a timeline for the eventual settlement of the tournament debts.
The competition was coordinated following a partnership between the GFF and the Kashif and Shanghai Organization. Some of the major sponsors of the event included: Caribbean Airlines, New GPC, Ansa McAl, GTT, Digicel, E-Networks, Edward B. Beharry Group, Sterling Products Ltd, and Tiger Rentals.
At the official launch of the event, it was stated that the winner will walk away with $2 million and the championship trophy, while the runner-up will collect $1 million. Similarly, it was also disclosed that each team that advances from the semi-final will receive $400,000, whilst every victory by a team in the group stage will result in an additional award of $200,000.
On the individual side, a one-off payment of $80,000 was to be given to 24 players from each of the regional teams, with the captain pocketing$100,000. Similarly, the head-coach was also slated to receive $100,000, while the other four members of his staff were slated to collect $80,000. Each team comprised 25 players and five technical staff.
Basically, if a team fulfilled their allotted quota of players and management staff, then they are owed $2,440,000. In total, all ten regions, if they utilised the assigned allocation of players and management personnel, are owed $24,400,000 in player stipend.
Similarly, Region four is owed $2,000,000 for clinching the tournament as well as $1,200,000 for winning all their group matches and the semi-final fixture for a grand overall prize package of $3,200,000. Region three is owed $1,000,000 for finishing as the runner-up. They are also owed an additional $800,000 for winning two group matches and the semi-final encounter for an overall prize money total of $1,800,000. The other teams are also owed money for winning matches in the group stage section.
Meanwhile, according to a source close to the Region four squad, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, “The players have not heard about any timeline yet, and have not been paid. No one from the GFF has told them anything about a timeline for payment, they have not mentioned anything. What more can they do, the players are just waiting.”
The source further said, “The GFF has to be blamed because they are the ones who are supposed to represent the interest of the players, they are the national body and they are not communicating any information with the players. It’s very unprofessional, they always demand a high standard from the players and expect the utmost best from the players but their standard is the worst.”
“The national team is in training for about two to three weeks now and the GFF President came to the sessions twice and never spoke to the players or had a conversation with the players on this issue. At least he should have let the players know that they are working on it and that they are engaging the government on the matter. It’ is basically common courtesy, its young men with families that depend on the money”, the source stated.
