Sports Minister bowls bumper ball to ‘illegitimate’ cricket body

Sports Minister Charles Ramson

Minister of Culture Youth and Sports Charles Ramson has come out swinging sixes and fours in
the direction of a group which he said is ‘Calling itself the Guyana Cricket Board’

Ramson while conducting a site and inspection visit to the Guyana National Stadium made it clear that his ministry does not recognise the body as legitimate.

His comment came on the heels of an article published in two daily newspapers that suggested the recently held Kashif and Shanghai Bounce Back Football Tournament held at the Stadium damaged the pitch.

The photo which is published today depicting the present state of the pitch

“Let’s be clear that the Guyana National Stadium is not owned by anyone, its owned by the people of the country, it’s not owned by any sport its owned by the various sports for which require its usage in order for them to be able to advance their standing nationally and globally” Ramson told a group of journalist on Tuesday afternoon.

There is a suspicion by the Ministry that an alleged correspondence sent to some media houses was engineered by the ‘GCB’ in relation to the pitch but did not represent a true representation of the current condition of the ground.

The actual state of the pitch today Tuesday as observed during a site visit

“That photo was published yesterday and we are here on the ground today, this pitch is in an almost perfect position and condition today; it was a concerted attempt to malingine the ministry and to prevent the use of the stadium for football” Ramson
stressed.

He also noted that the Guyana Football Federation GFF, is also required to be prepared for their
world Cup preparations and representation to be kicked off in March of this year.

According to Ramson, he does not support any move by any group who believes that the Guyana National Stadium should be preserved or kept for a group of favored people when all other Guyanese
and those in various sporting disciplines must have access.

“And as we are on the subject of the request coming from the body that calls itself the GCB I want to make it very clear that the Ministry does not recognize the body that calls itself the GCB as the body authorized or the legitimate body that is suppose to represent cricket in Guyana” the sport minister noted as he pointed to a request from the same body to use the pitch for a tournament.

Today when this publication visited the stadium along with other media houses, it was found
that the pitch appears to be in good working condition and there is no physical or evident
damage done to the pitch that supports the image published in at least one section of the press.