Gold Project

This country’s first ever Goal project is set to kick off with the ground breaking ceremony for the proposed technical centre at Brighton later today.{{more}}

The signing between the St Vincent and the Grenadines Football Federation (SVGFF) and football’s world governing body FIFA took place on Monday, April 17, at the SVGFF’s headquarters in Kingstown.

The estimated cost of the facility is EC$1.3 million, according to Joseph Delves, SVGFF President, and will be financed under the FIFA Goal Programme which was launched in 1999.The project will be funded by FIFA in the amount of US$400,000.

“This is a huge step for us in St Vincent and the Grenadines because it has huge ramifications for football,” Delves told SEARCHLIGHT.

He said that the construction of the technical centre would mean that the national team would have a permanent venue for training.

The national team trains at the Victoria Park, but according to Delves, during the Carnival season access to this facility is denied and they are not able to return until September to allow for rehabilitation work to be done to the surface.

“But in the mean time, our national team needs to train and prepare,” the president said.

He further contended that there were also financial benefits to having the technical centre as visiting national teams will now be able to be housed for free, rather than being put into hotel rooms which in the past was a large financial burden to the Federation.

But most importantly, Delves anticipated that the centre would have a big impact on the game and its development, saying that this country’s under 15’s and 17’s would also be able to access the facility for training.

The concept of having a Goal Project is nothing new to this country.

Under the previous administration the project was for the construction of a football headquarters to be constructed in the Harbour Club area in Kingstown.

But according to Delves, there were issues over the title of the land.

“When we came to office in 2007 we had to resolve issues before we were able to move on,” he explained adding that it took time and money to resolve those issues.

The land now belongs to the Federation; this after lengthy negotiations.

But according to Delves, it was felt that the need for a technical centre surpassed the need for a football headquarters.

“Our view was that a technical centre was more pressing than a football headquarters.”

The possibility of constructing a home for football can come on as a later Goal Project he added. (DD)