The Sports Minister refutes GCB’s claims of a damaged Providence pitch

By Jemima Holmes

Sports Minister Charles Rason Jr. on Tuesday rejected allegations by the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) that the cricket pitch at National Stadium, Providence was severely damaged following a football tournament held earlier this year.

Ramson, he took Inews on a unique tour of the facility to prove it is not damaged and ready to be prepared for any upcoming cricket activities.

The photo was circulated by GCB on Sunday

“I can see that there is no such damage to the pitch at the moment and we will only have to get the wicket ready for cricket for a couple of weeks,” said the Minister.

The Minister emphasized that the stadium is not owned by one association in Guyana anyway, but is open to use by any other sports association.

“And the wicket usually takes about three weeks to prepare anyway because the National Stadium wicket is not kept at a stage where you can walk on and play,” Ramson noted, based on the instruction of the landowners in the facility.

Current state of the field

“So for the people who claimed it was in a bad state, it’s very malicious. It is also disturbing and shows that there is an orchestral attempt to devalue the Ministry or to devalue football and to discourage use of the National Stadium for anything other than cricket, ”said the Minister.

Ramson reiterated that the Stadium is not owned by any single person but is rather the convenience of the people of Guyana and should be respected as such.

The ‘Bounce Back Football Classic’ tournament was held at the National Stadium on December 29 and January 1; a collaborative effort between the Guyana Football Federation (GFF), the Kashif and Shanghai Foundation and the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport.

However, on January 10 abuse by the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) shared a photo of the alleged damage to the field.

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