Guyana Review examines the issues surrounding the decision by the Kashif and Shanghai Organization to depart from an 18-year old practice by shifting the Finals of its annual football tournament from the Mackenzie Sports Club Ground to the National Stadium at Providence
The decision by the Kashif and Shanghai Organization to relocate the Finals of its 19th Annual Football Tournament from its customary venue, the Mackenzie Sports Club Ground, to the National Stadium at Providence is the latest in a series of troublesome issues to descend on a sport already besieged by its own fair share of controversy. In a sense the issue goes to the heart of a problem that continues to plague the development of sport in Guyana – sub-standard facilities which, among other things, retard the development of sport and place limits on the capacities of national sportsmen and women to accomplish much on the competitive stage outside Guyana. Not even the accomplishments of several sister CARICOM countries on the international stage both in football and, more recently, at the Beijing Olympics, appears to have galvanized local sports administrators into any sort of corrective action. .
For all their publicly expressed loyalty to the mining town, the Tournament’s Directors, Kashif Mohammed and Aubrey ‘Shanghai’ Major concede that the growth in the popularity of the Tournament over the past eighteen years has meant that the Finals have outgrown the limited and run-down facilities of the Mackenzie Sports Club.
As it happens, however, the issue is far more complicated than simply shifting the Finals to a more convivial environment. The New Year’s Day Finals of the Kashif and Shanghai Tournament has been a fixture on Linden’s entertainment calendar for almost two decades. On the first day of every year throngs of free-spirited, free-spending football lovers from across the country descend on Linden, as much for the football as for the attendant entertainment. The one-off hike in patronage that accrues to a small business community ravaged by economic downturn since the demise of the state-run bauxite company is clearly not lost to Lindeners.
That is why, for all the efforts of tournament directors to treat the matter delicately, co-Director Major concedes that there is an uneasiness in a community which has already had much to complain about in recent months. The issue, he says, “is not only about football.” That, from all the reports, is pretty much the feedback that the Kashif and Shanghai Organization has received from the ‘stakeholders” in Linden to whom they had written inviting them to discuss the issue.
Those who are inclined to see the Tournament outside of its parochial setting – a creation by two of Linden’s popular “home boys” – would probably not be surprised over the shifting of the Finals to the National Stadium. This is by no means the first time that the issue of the suitability of the spartan facilities at the Mackenzie Sports Club has arisen and the incremental success of the Tournament having transformed it from a “linden thing” to arguably the country’s premier football Tournament has created constant pressure for the shifting of the Finals to a more convivial setting.
Over time, the organizers have chosen to keep their concerns about the state of the McKenzie Sports Club mostly to themselves while investing in remedial and upgrading measures like fencing and lighting to facilitate their own fixtures. However, failed efforts – including an initiative involving the Linden Economic Advancement Programme (LEAP) – to rehabilitate the complex coupled with the emergence of the National Stadium last year caused the issue of the possible relocation of the Finals to resurface more prominently than in previous years.
Co – Director Kashif Mohammed says that by shifting the Finals to the National Stadium “we can provide a more fitting occasion for the fans, the players and for football. We are not deserting Linden. We are simply seeking to make the Tournament more worthwhile for everyone.”
Never bashful about making their feelings known on issues that concern them, many Lindeners have done more than simply knit their brows over the issue. While acknowledging the concerns expressed by the organizers over the state of the Linden venue they have made no secret of the fact that the move to Providence is a devastating blow for the entertainment and service sectors in the mining town at a time when the community cannot afford further economic setbacks. Concern over what the loss of the Kashif and Shanghai Finals could mean to Linden even extends to some of the Tournament’s detractors who, in the past, have been critical of what they say is the event’s focus on its commercial success rather than on its role in raising standards in local football.
Whenever this issue has been put to Mohammed he has responded with a sense of indignation. “In the first instance what people need to understand is that, internationally, football is as much a business as it is a sport. At the same time what our detractors deliberately ignore is the role that the Tournament has played in making the game more popular across the country. Furthermore, we have played a role in building football at the community level in Linden and elsewhere and in arranging attachments for players at Clubs in Trinidad and Tobago. Even the current Coach of the national team Jamal Shabazz has acknowledged our role in that regard. In addition to all of that we have made contributions to schools and other groups. What more can we be expected to do?”
Major, usually the more cautious of the partners, agrees with Mohammed but says that he is wary of the mood of protest that prevails in Linden at this time. In recent weeks residents have taken to the streets to protest the persistent drizzle of dust emitting from the stacks at the bauxite plant currently being run by the Chinese company Bosai. Sources in the community say that another outburst may be brewing over concerns about rehabilitation works on the vital bridge connecting the communities on the two sides of the Demerara River.
Up until now, however, Lindeners have remained relatively quiet over the football issue and many of the Town’s officials have endorsed the view expressed by the Kashif and Shanghai Organization that the issue of a rehabilitated Mackenzie Sports Club Complex should indeed be brought to the front burner of community concerns. The current facility is a throwback to the days when the American company Alcan ran the bauxite operations in Linden and Moahmmed says that the expansion of the township and the greater demand for sports, social and recreational facilities warrants “not renovation but complete modernization.”
Recently, Bosai funded the rehabilitation of the swimming pool facility at the complex and Mohammed says that both government and the private sector should begin to look at the need to provide the people of Linden with a better social and recreational facility. He says that over time the Kashif and Shanghai Organization has spent its own money to effect short-term rehabilitation works to facilitate its own events and that the time has come to have a new facility.
The controversy over the suitability of the Mackenzie Sports Club for the Kashif and Shanghai Finals is a microcosm of a larger controversy currently brewing over the state of the national game and, more particularly, over the proper playing facilities across the country. President of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Colin Klass, whose leadership has been under sustained criticism, never tires of saying that the Federation is not responsible for the provision of playing fields. The problem with Klass’ argument is that it invariably tends to get lost amongst the host of other criticisms of his tenure and his continued occupancy of a position that offers many privileges has long become a sore point with those who contend that his gain is footbal’s loss.
The lack of playing facilities has become an increasingly thorny issue as the national football team, the Golden Jaguars, have come to national and regional prominence. The absence of suitable practice facilities for the Jaguars immediately prior to major matches is one of several issues that have kept the GFF and its President under the microscope.
Chastened, perhaps, by the criticisms being leveled at the Federation President, the Kashif and Shanghai Organization has been somewhat more mindful of the management of its own public image. Whatever difficulties may arise out o its decision to shift the venue for the Finals, its decision to consult with Linden over the change of venue is uncharacteristic of the prevailing style of local sports administration where heads of various sports organizations frequently attract public criticism for acting like laws onto themselves.
Mohammed says that the decision to consult arose out of our understanding of ‘what the Finals of the Tournament means to Linden.” He says that “it is about much more than football. It is about an issue that is important to our community.”
Arising out of the meeting with stakeholders at Linden the Kashif and Shanghai Organization now appears inclined to bend over backwards to “compensate” Linden for the loss of this year’s finals. It has offered more than 600 free tickets for the finals to Lindeners in various ‘giveaways’ and has announced a ‘special price” for all Lindeners who are prepared to travel to Providence for the game. Additionally, the Organization has agreed to negotiate special bus fares for Lindeners traveling to the stadium and a concession for small businesses to sell their goods at the stadium.
Meanwhile, Mohammed says that the Organization is prepared to help organize a special “weekend of entertainment “ built around the December 26th and 28th marches that will be played un Linden. “We believe that when you take account of the fact that those two matches are being played on a holiday weekend there is potential for a splendid day of entertainment that combines football with other forms of entertainment,” he adds.
Whether all this will be enough to placate Lindeners and to quell charges that the Kashif and Shanghai Tournament has outgrown the mining town and is now seeking to take the event to a bigger stage remains to be seen. Mohammed is thoughtful when the question is posed. “Everything that we have done over the past eighteen tournaments have demonstrated our commitment to Linden. That commitment has not diminished. We believe that in a sense what we are going is creating pressure for a greater national focus on bettering the conditions at Linden, not only for football but for community activity as a whole. What we have also said is that we want to be part of the initiative to rehabilitate the Mackenzie Sports Club Ground. We are prepared to put the same level of energy into that project that we have put into the Tournament. We cannot do better than that.”
