The Guyana Football Federation (GFF) on Thursday presented GY$12.4M worth of funding to the nine regional member associations to aid in the commencement of their 2023 senior men’s leagues.
According to a release from the federation, some 104 clubs are penciled down to benefit from this gesture that is funded under the umbrella of the GFF’s Member Financial Assistance Programme (M-FAP).
Essentially each of the associations will receive on average $GYD1.3M towards their respective leagues. Previously, the GFF MFAP, which mirrors the FIFA’s model for funding, annually allocated funds to members for administration and operations, equipment and materials, competitions and technical development and infrastructural development. Regional associations will receive $600,000 each year, affiliates will be granted $500,000 and elite league clubs can access $400,000 for approved costs and projects under a range of strict compliance and oversight measures.
GFF President Forde said, “We have been talking with the associations for the better part of four months, guiding them on some of the essential planning processes they needed to undertake to ensure that they were ready to launch and operate their senior men’s league. They were required to prepare and submit to the GFF key documentation such as the league fixtures, rules/regulations of the league and a budget for the season. Barring the individual venue challenges football is facing in Guyana, coupled with the inclement weather at the moment, my associations are ready for their leagues and I would like to thank all of my Presidents for their hard work and leadership.”
He added, “M-FAP is important to the entire football fraternity. We have already seen the impact M-FAP has had on football in Guyana over the last three years. We recognised during the course of last year’s regional associations league, that additional resources and funding were required, so this year we have answered that call by allocating more funds to each RA.
He added that MFAP is “unprecedented and very unique to Guyana. As a member of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) there is really no other country within our hemispheric football body, CFU in particular, that has a well-structured funding programme as is the case here.”
Meanwhile, Golden Jaguars head-coach Jamaal Shabazz said, “It’s an important stepping stone for the national team because the regional associations produce players, coaches and teams for the elite league…and from there they are in a pool where they are chosen for national and international football. GFF has taken a position with M-FAP in terms of support, now the onus is on the regional associations to take that support and run with it.”
Also, Georgetown Football Association (GFA) President Otis James, whose league is penciled to commence tomorrow, said, “This 2023 season will be a little bit more competitive because we came out of the Covid-19 situation. Now we are much better equipped. We are looking forward to Sunday afternoon at 6 p.m. to start the senior men’s league.”
Likewise, President of the Upper Demerara Football Association, Wainwright Bethun, said:“As we all know…we’ve had some issues in terms of having a regular senior league and today…placed us in a good position so that we can start our 2023-2024 season. So, we are very much looking forward to that.”
Similarly, Bartica Football Association President Alden Marslowe said, “Last year we had a very successful senior men’s league at Bartica and once again we are really happy that the GFF has come on board with the M-FAP programme to ensure that our league runs into a second year and we’re looking forward to making it a success again.”
