Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Charles Ramson Jr. figures that Guyana is currently in a great position to host a portion of the 2022 season of the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL), revealing that their focus is airing hosting rights for the semifinal and final to be played on local shores.
Ramson Jr. made this revelation last Saturday night, during Guyana’s Soca Monarch Show at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence, East Bank Demerara (EBD).
When quizzed by journalists about the stage of hosting rights negotiations, which were publicised by CPL’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Pete Russell last week, Ramson divulged to this publication that they have advanced.
“It’s advanced. It’s advanced. I think by next month, you’ll be able to get a decision. But, it’s something that the President is working really hard on, it’s his baby too. He’s really behind it in a major way, he loves cricket and in fact they were the ones that were conceptualising it at the early stages,” the Sport Minister explained.
Also explaining one of the reasons behind Guyana’s intense pursuit of hosting the event, Ramson Jr. posited that this will contribute to his Ministry’s vision of transforming Guyana into an event-hub in the Caribbean.
“What you would have heard the President announce and what we’re doing to support that, is really positioning Guyana as this events capital of the region. That’s one of the reasons why we’re trying to get the CPL finals and semifinals here. So, we’re working very hard to conclude that arrangement and when that’s done we’ll be able to make the announcement.”
“Hopefully it will be favourable, but that’s an indication of what we’re trying to do.”
On the matter of Guyana’s preparedness to host such a grand event on the global calendar, Ramson pointed out rehabilitation work that was done at the National Stadium recently, noting that this will be improved upon.
On this matter the Sport Minister commented, “In order for us to host the West Indies and Pakistan matches here, it was in bad condition, so, early I had to go back to the cabinet and say look, we didn’t have the money to do it. The Cabinet gave me $50M to spend on the National Stadium, luckily that helped us to also secure hosting the Under-19 World Cup.”
“So, a lot of work has already been done but I haven’t left it there. Out of this year’s budget, we’ve put aside $50M to do an electronic scoreboard, we also put quite a bit of money to get the equipment we need, like the super soaker,” he went on to add.
Essentially, if the CPL final and semifinal is confirmed to be hosted in Guyana, it will not only be a proud moment for the Minister, but also Guyana’s President Dr. Irfaan Ali, who first uttered ambitions to host the 2022 final in December of 2021, at a tourism event.
“So, it’ll be a big boost for us, as a country, as a people, being able to host CPL finals for the first time in ever. I mean, I’ll put my feather in my hat and walk,” Ramson Jr. candidly shared.
