Despite contractually obligated to remunerate the Golden Jaguars senior men’s programme their match-fees for the 2022 Concacaf Nations League no later than June 30, the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) appears to have breached its contractual duties, as more than six weeks have elapsed since the deadline.

This was disclosed by a source close to the federation who spoke on the condition of anonymity. According to the source, “The players signed a contract in the Dominican Republic which explained the breakdown of the match fees and the Trinidad camp and the money owed there. It stated that the federation will pay no later than June 30th. They have certainly broken that contract by a significant period. This is a breach of contract. It is estimated that the players are owed hundreds of thousands. The GFF supposedly paid a percentage of what is owed to the players. However, several of the players have not been contacted on this possibility.”The matches were staged from June 4 to14.

Efforts to contact the GFF General Secretary Ian Alves for a comment proved futile. Several calls to his phone went unanswered up to press time. Alves in an earlier interview with this publication on July 14, conceded that the federation is still to pay the Golden Jaguars senior men’s roster their matchday fees.

The team was only partially paid for their attendance at the Trinidad and Tobago training camp. The contract which was signed by General Secretary Alves, and seen by this publication, stated under the headline, “Player Payment Schedule” - “All players will receive an advance of $200USD, the final payment will be done upon the return in effect of wire transfer/cheque payment on or before June 30th 2022.”

The contract further stated under the caption “Concacaf Nations League 2022 Payments”: “Match Fee - Starter: 350 USD; Match Fee - Substitute Appearance: 250 USD; Match Fee - Unused Substitute: 150 USD; Win Bonus: 200 USD; Draw Bonus: 100 USD; Goal Bonus: 25 USD per goal (max bonus of 4 goals); Per diem: All players - 50 USD per night for in camp days prior to 1st June 2022.”

The source pointed out, “To be honest the players are being misled with information. The players are being told this week or next week and every time the new week arrives, nothing happens. It brings a lot of frustration to the players. The information is coming from the manager of the team, it has been two months since the last game and they were in Trinidad 10 days prior, before the first game, where they are owed for that as well. There is no official timeline as to when they will get paid what they are owed.”

Guyana contested four matches in the confederation tournament. The squad defeated Montserrat and Bermuda (2-1) but suffered historic embarrassing losses to Haiti (2-6, and 0-6).