The Guyana Football Federation (GFF) has selected 12 local players in its final team roster for their 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign in the Dominican Republic. The Golden Jaguars contingent is scheduled to depart local shores today to commence their campaign where they will play two matches.
According to a source close to the Guyana Football Federation (GFF), who spoke on the condition of anonymity, the 12 players are Akel Clarke, Shawn Adonis, Nikkoloi Andrews, Nicholas MacArthur, Kelsey Benjamin, Jeremy Garrett, Ryan Hackett, Daniel Wilson, Pernell Schultz, Trayon Bobb, Job Caesar and Omari Glasgow.
Guyana is set to open its group-F campaign against Trinidad’s Soca Warriors next Thursday. They will next lock horns with The Bahamas national team five days later. In their third match, Guyana will travel to St. Kitts and Nevis on June 4th before ending their group round at home on June 8th against Puerto Rico. Only the group winner will progress to the second stage of the qualifiers.
“The team was announced on Monday at the training ground at the National Training Centre, Providence by the head-coach after the sessions concluded.
Eleven foreign-born or based players are expected to join the local contingent in the Dominican Republic.
“The exact names of those players are unknown. Checking time for the team is 9:00am at the Eugene F. Correira airport. They will first travel to Barbados and then to the Dominican Republic,” said the source.
“Among the 12 selected, five players were initially suspended for more than a week for their participation in an unsanctioned event in Buxton. Wilson and Schultz were suspended but were not announced publicly by the federation. The other three are MacArthur, Bobb and Benjamin, who were disclosed alongside Sese Norville and Kevin Dundas,” the source added.
Head-coach Marcio Maximo will head the management team which also includes assistant coach Wilson Toledo, long serving team manager Rawle Adams, goalkeeping coach Eon DeVieira, equipment manager Trevor Burnett and physiotherapist Denzil Hernandes.
“Each player will receive an advance of US$250, with the final payment occurring upon return either by wire transfer or cheque on March 31st. In terms of the match fee, each player that is a member of the starting team will receive US$350 while players that make an appearance from the substitute’s bench will pocket US$250. Players who are unused substitutes will receive US$150,” the source said. “Every player will also receive a US$100 bonus for a victory, while US$25 will be awarded to each player for every goal scored. The goals bonus is only payable for a maximum of four goals scored. The players will not receive daily stipends but will be given an allowance of US$100 for the entirety of the trip”, the source further divulged.
Due to logistical and financial reasons, the GFF confirmed that the Golden Jaguars opening two fixtures in the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers will be hosted in the Dominican Republic. This was confirmed by GFF boss Wayne Forde on March 9th at a press conference. Presently, Guyana is on the UK’s Covid-19 red list of banned countries, which makes it difficult for overseas-born and based players plying their trade in that jurisdiction to arrive on local shores. GFF President Forde had disclosed that the federation will incur GYD$29 million in operation expenditure for this window, of which GYD$12 million is for the chartering of a flight to and from the Spanish speaking nation.
