Ensuring the success of Guyana’s Golden Jaguars in the FIFA World Cup South AfricaTM will be the task of the GFF WORLD CUP COMMITTEE (GFF-WCC) which is set to launch soon. So says GFF President Colin Klass. The GFF-WFC is a special Sub- Committee of the GFF which, while it will have a great degree of autonomy, will not operate on its own as a separate entity.
Klass and members of the GFF Executive met with two members of the GFF-WCC, businesswoman Mrs. Sheridan David who works also in child development and retired banker Mr. John Yates both of whom are Guyanese and who reside in the USA, to finalize the Terms of Reference of the Committee.
The GFF-WCC’s mandate provides for all the planning and strategic operational development which will seek to ensure that the Golden Jaguars experience the most beneficial arrangements as it relates to its training, equipment and development ahead of its engagements in the Qualifiers which will provide the opportunity for GUYANA to achieve even more than Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica did in the recent past. The Committee will be responsible for planning and soliciting and engaging local and overseas sponsors, organizing fund-raisers, sourcing equipment and venues for training, soliciting and ensuring required services for the Jaguar’s preparation as well as managing the entire process of Guyana’s participation.
Klass said that following today’s meeting; other meetings will be sought with the President Jagdeo, senior government functionaries and other critical stakeholders to seek to widen the participation at the national level in Guyana’s quest for a berth in the final 32 nations contesting the FIFA World Cup South Africa TM. It is envisaged that these meetings shall take place within the next two weeks and then the GFF-WCC will be officially launched at a special gala dinner.
Yates, former President Pele FC, the Georgetown Football Association said that the GFF-WCC is not in
partnership with the GFF but is rather a part of the GFF. He noted that setting up such a Committee was not outside of the norm as almost all the countries participating in the World Cup South AfricaTM are likely to have a similar Committee in place to plan and execute specifically for the event. Having this Committee functioning on a professional level with similar expertise he said would give the players and Guyana a better opportunity to qualify.
His involvement, he said is purely out of a desire to give back to the development of football in Guyana and the country as a whole. He noted that in conversations with GFF Technical Director Mr. Jamaal Shabbaaz, it was pointed out that the Jaguars demonstrate the capacity for greatness.
Yates posited that while the exposure in the region has done Jaguars well, there was a big difference between playing in front of 5000 spectators as against playing in front of 30,000 plus. He emphasised that money was critically needed for the Jaguars’ development and thrust them beyond their current threshold and said that he hoped to see corporate and other enterprises as well as all GUYANA standing with and behind them. Success for the Jaguars, he pointed out, is not simply success for the 22 players but rather success for all Guyana in the same way as it turned out for both Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago when they qualified for the FIFA World Cup TM. He noted that the media also had a very significant role to play in ensuring this success.
Addressing the situation concerning the non-engagement of the Jaguars in Internationals since the Digicel Caribbean Cup, Klass said that several approaches had been made to National Teams from Associations within the Caribbean and Central America for engagements with Guyana. He noted however, that in all instances to date commitments were given and then the potential rivals backed out. He also notes that the members of the Senior Male National Team are engaged in competitive tournaments abroad in the Trinidad and Tobago, USA, UK, and Canada and that bringing them home to Guyana for matches against a “Rest Team” would not necessarily guarantee them similar levels of competitive football. Klass went on to note that the only date left in the 2007 FIFA Calendar for International matches is November 21 and that an arrangement was in place for play on that date but that too fell through. “However” he said, “while there are offers for the jaguars to travel to other territories, this could not be facilitated at this time.” “It looks as if we might be able to play Haiti on or about December 15 when it will be the closing of the season for international leagues the world over come to an end.” he added.
Future official engagements for the Jaguars as well as the formal launching of the GFF-WCC will be announced shortly.
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