Barbados’ footballers finally to see action

The Barbados senior men’s and women’s football teams were slated to be announced late tonight after their last training sessions, before departing the country this Thursday for Suriname. They will play a number of international friendly matches.

Barbados Football Association (BFA) President Randy Harris confirmed that the team will play in a  tri-nation international competition against Suriname and Guyana and said this was to keep the players match-ready and also in preparation for any upcoming tournaments.

“We have not played any kind of domestic competition for nearly two years now and we have got this opportunity to play three international games so that we can gauge and assess the development of the teams that would be playing in competition in another couple of months,” Harris said.

The BFA president added: “It was an invitation from Suriname to play in a triangular tournament with Guyana. Then we realised that their women’s team was in training too and therefore we asked if we could get a match or two for the ladies.”

This trip is a much welcome one for the players and coaching staff given that no football can be played at the Wildey, St Michael Astro Turf which is scheduled to be replaced at a cost of BDS$700, 000 sometime this year.

It is expected that the coaching staff will have a hard time with their selection process in terms of who will make the final squad because the team players and management must be fully vaccinated.

Not all the national players including both male and female are vaccinated.

Therefore head of the Bajan Tridents men’s team Russell Latapy and the Lady Tridents headed by former national captains Emmerson Boyce and Mario Harte will have their work cut out for them in terms of selecting the best possible squad.

Just this past Saturday, the BFA held a COVID-19 vaccination drive in conjunction with the Ministry of Health and Wellness at its Wildey headquarters. This initiative was opened to member clubs and other sporting fraternities.

A few weeks ago Harris said his association would be moving in the direction of having players fully vaccinated for local football to resume soon.

During a recent interview with Barbados TODAY, the BFA president said, “All National players going forward have to be vaccinated, this is because the persons who are not have been costing the BFA a heavy fee as it relates to quarantine on the return to the island or on arrival when travelling.

“The BFA is also moving to the motion that all players will have to be vaccinated to take part in the new season. However, if a player does not want to be he can still play in his team under these conditions: The club will have to pay for his Covid test before a match. The player can also pay for it before a match. But it has to be done in order to play.”

morissalindsay@barbadostoday.bb