GFF president Colin Klass yesterday read a letter for the media from FIFA’s general secretary Zen Ruffinen confirming that Guyana’s Goal project was approved during the March 4 sitting of the Goal Bureau in Zurich.

“FIFA’s assistance is now a reality,” Klass declared during the media conference at the GFF Bel Air Park secretariat.

The GFF president said construction should begin in May at the new site identified, but approval for the land use must still be obtained from government.

Klass disclosed that all the necessary documents were submitted to the relevant authorities and copies of them were forwarded to the Ministry of Sport, since February 16.

The land was identified in conjunction with the Lands & Surveys Department. It is a 15-acre plot close to the seawall at Paradise and local council has given its blessing to the project, according to Klass.

A copy of the FIFA’s letter will now be sent to the various government agencies involved with the land approval, as proof that funding is now available.

In 1999, FIFA’s vice-president Austin ‘Jack’ Warner had announced that Guyana would be among five Caribbean countries to benefit from funding by the Goal programme to build a stadium, saying it was an exception to FIFA’s rule.

“It is the first time that FIFA is doing this, because normally we do not spend money on capital development, on stadia and so on. But it is felt that some of the countries would need some assistance, particularly in stadia development," Warner had said.

The Ministry of Sport plunged into the project to find land for the stadium, Warner having told Minister Gail Teixeira the US$20 million was earmarked for Guyana.

FIFA’s sport architect Alvin Dorsette eventually selected land owned by the University of Guyana as the ideal site for the stadium, from a choice of three.

A grand sod-turning ceremony was planned for the visit of FIFA president Sepp Blatter last September, but he instead declared that FIFA did not build stadia, which was the responsibility of governments. The green garden fork with a big red ribbon was left bracing on the signboard with the bold legend “SITE FOR NATIONAL FOOTBALL STADIUM.”

President Bharrat Jagdeo responded by declaring that the UG land was no longer available and Minister Teixeira said that, although government made a commitment to provide the land for a football project. However, the GFF must now apply through the normal channels, providing detailed information on the project, along with proof of funding, for the land to be approved.

In an exclusive interview with Chronicle Sport (yet to be published), Klass blamed the fiasco on over-enthusiasm on learning of football’s good fortunes, that the information was not carefully studied, including the sum peddled.

But now all the requirements are in place and it is now left to the government to stamp its approval.

Klass reported that a FIFA architect would not be required to approve the land because permission was granted for the local architects to determine its suitability.

Bidding for the building contract will soon be invited and three will be chosen for the FIFA Development Officer to make the final choice, which may not necessarily be a local contractor.

Architect Rawle Jordon said the plans submitted to FIFA were a preliminary proposal done for the UG site and they were now being fine-tuned for the one at Paradise.

Geo-technical surveys were under way and the information would be passed on to the structural engineers. Drainage would be an additional cost and Jordon would suggest scaling back on some aspects of the plan so that the money would do.

Initially, two fields would be built, a 3000-seat stand of reinforced concrete and steel, under which other facilities would be built, along with a main building. The training facility would be fenced. Construction would take ten months.

Later, the facility will be expanded and the additional US$600 000 will come from FIFA’s Financial Assistance Programme, in which each national federation draws down US$1 million, disbursed over four years from 1999.