No smooth sailing for Kashif & Shanghai football after 14 years
… Administrators create obstacles
By Isaiah Chappelle
Guyana Chronicle
December 31, 2003
FROM a two-team bet, the Christmas Football Festival, staged by the Kashif & Shanghai Organisation, has risen to the most recognised annual national event, but not without blocks from the national governing football body, and others.
But in 14 years, Kashif Mohamed and Aubrey ‘Major’ Shanghai achieved what the national football governing body, or any other football body for that matter, could not achieve in 100 years.
Each year from 1990, the tournament improved and became bigger so much so that the duo established the Kashif & Shanghai Organisation to plan and execute a smooth championship, in line with international standards.
The annual event started off with a $4 000 injection from Banks DIH Limited, with Eagles United and Milerock being the principal teams, and Linden United and Central Hikers invited to make it a mini-tournament.
Boxing Day, for which there were no events in the mining town, was chosen as the first play day and New Year’s Day for the final.
“The response was surprising. People came out, so we decided to try it the following year, involving all first division teams from Linden. Again the response was good. Thus we invited Santos and Camptown from Georgetown, the following year, and so the tournament began to grow. But never in our wildest imagination did we expect it grow to the size it is today,” Mohamed related.
Business entities began injecting money on a big scale as the tournament became international and eventually got support from the government, through the-then Finance Minister Bharrat Jagdeo -- support that has continued to the present championship.
The championship offers the biggest prize monies on a continued basis, with several other incentives like free transport for teams to venues, meals, water, and even money to aid in preparations.
Thus a stupendous budget is required to offset the expenses -- this year’s being some $11 million. A sum of over half a million dollars goes to the Guyana Football Federation in fees alone.
Teams look forward to participating and the attraction went beyond these shores, with two Barbadian clubs hunting down a K&S director seeking to be part of this year’s tournament. Unfortunately, the clubs’ strength was affected when several of their players were drafted into that country’s national grid and they pulled out.
Several local players were spotted from these championships for professional contracts in Trinidad & Tobago, with six of them being in the team that won this year’s championships in the Twin Island Republic.
The spin-off in the economy of the mining community is tremendous, a factor that the government considers in supporting the championship. Transport operators benefit along with restaurants, hotels, drinking venues, boutiques and itinerant vendors.
Such stupendous success did not come easily. There were the detractors. One year, led by their administrators, Georgetown clubs demanded appearance fees.
But the biggest obstacle was getting the official stamp from the Upper Demerara Football Sub-Association (UDFSA) and the-then Guyana Football Association.
There were times when the organisers had to wait sometimes up to the eve of the championships before getting the necessary sanctions. They also had to stage the event through a club.
One year, the MSC did not want to grant permission for the use of the facility, and the organisers turned to Georgetown Cricket Club to stage the opening, semifinals and final. The Linden community rose against the MSC, knowing the economic setback for the mining town.
Now just when it looked like a smooth sailing after 14 years of real hard work, with the business community and government behind them, the organisers are still confronted with obstacles from the football administrators. This year, it seems they used a club’s participation to try to derail the championship.