By Emmerson Campbell
After launching awareness campaigns and hosting numerous radio and television programmes to create a ‘12th man’ to support the Golden Jaguars, the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) has now switched its approach and will relocate next Friday’s World Cup Qualifier game against Mexico to a US state that borders that country.
During a press briefing at the GFF headquarters in Campbellville, acting President Franklin Wilson and General Secretary Noel Adonis confirmed that the match will be played at the BBVA Compass Stadium, in Houston, Texas.
Wilson said the main reason for the switch, which was “unavoidable”, was in the best interest of football in Guyana as the revenue will be used to pay off outstanding debts and other expenses the Golden Jaguars have incurred.
“If we did not go in this direction, there was a great likelihood that the game would not have been played,” said Wilson. “As fate would have it, a way was presented to the GFF for the relocation for the game to be played and we took it.
“I know some of the die-hard fans have been looking forward to the game playing here to see some of the Mexican stars, but it was unavoidable in the circumstances.”
He continued “We made the request and it was granted, the arrangement for the game to be played in the USA will by no means be of detriment but it will provide us with an opportunity to settle some of the debts outstanding from the previous games and those being incurred at present.”
However when this publication asked whether the same “unavoidable “decision would have been taken if Guyana was still in a position to qualify for the next round, Adonis said, “I doubt we would have relocated the game but we made the decision after the El Salvador loss… [For] the first [home] game, we had 6,000-plus spectators and for the second [home] game we had 4,000-plus spectators. So you see the trend.”
Asked why the game was relocated to Texas, a state which borders Mexico, instead of New York which is home to the largest Guyanese and Caribbean Diasporas, Adonis stated, “There are a number of things that we are looking for like maximizing our gate receipts. And while we may not think so, there is a large Caribbean presence in Texas so we accommodated for that in terms of our thinking. …The people that we are in communication with that are actually organizing the game for us in the USA, they would have done that homework.” Quizzed on how much money the GFF would receive as a result of relocating the game, Wilson did not disclose the amount, but stated that when the game is over and they add up the gate receipts, the figure will be made public. According to a source receipts should be in excess of US$2 million ($400 million).
Said Wilson “No we won’t want to put a price to it but it would definitely not take care of all the debts we have incurred. It will assist and ultimately the gate receipts will speak so at this juncture we would not know.
“We are not operating in a secret environment. Whatever we do, the public will be informed but the cost for… what we have been doing is millions and not jokey money. At the end of this it will be over $200 million and you will be informed because we intend to publish the statements.
“As of the 30th of September, the bill is $132 million and we still owe people and we want people to understand that what we are doing is within the best interest of football development.
“We believe that the move… will benefit football ultimately.”
The GFF acting president also noted that all is not lost as the game will be aired live on television next Friday at 20:00 hrs. “…So the public will have an opportunity to see the game as it is taking place in Texas…”
