——as Guinness Greatest of the Streets Georgetown zone prepares for kickoff

The 2017 edition of the Guinness ‘Greatest of the Streets’ Georgetown Championship was officially launched yesterday at the Thirst Park Sports Club.

The event, which commences tomorrow at the East Ruimveldt Community Center tarmac (California Square), will see 32 teams battling in a round-robin format of eight groups of four teams initially.

Upon the conclusion of the group stage, the top two finishers from each pool will advance to the round of 16 elimination.

The event will feature new rules.

The most important will occur in the final three minutes as any goal scored during that period, will result in the team being awarded two goals. This is called a ‘Guinness Goal’.

Similarly, each team will only be allowed two fouls per half with the third infraction and every foul thereafter, resulting in a penalty kick being awarded to the opposition.

Also, if any player intentionally kicks the ball outside of the arena, based on the judgement of the referee, that individual will have to leave the match for three minutes, effectively reducing their team to three players for that period.

In addition, the losing eight teams in the round of 16 section will face-off for $60,000 in an elimination tournament that will conclude on the night of the grand finale.

The other playing dates are Thursday, Saturday, November 30th, December 2nd, 5th, 7th, 9th and 16th. The other venues that will be utilised are Albouystown, Burnham Court, National Cultural Center and Demerara Park.

Lee Baptiste, Guinness Brand Manager, declared, that the event is testimony to the company’s commitment to organizing programmes in the communities.

He noted that street football has been an avenue to identify talent in the world especially in England, noting, “Banks DIH Limited remains committed to social activities in the communities. I wish all the teams the best of luck and show that your community is made of more.”

Colours Boutique representative, Creanna Damon, during brief remarks said that her company was once again proud to be associated with the tournament.

Rawle Welch, representative of tournament coordinators Three Peat Promotions, thanked the company for the affording his organization the opportunity to coordinate the tournament, declaring that the record number