Prime Minister’s Cup: Semi-Professional Football Tournament with BDS $100,000 Prize Launches in Barbados

Local footballers are set to score big with a new semi-professional tournament kicking off next month with a cash prize of BDS $100,000 for the winning team. The tournament was officially launched on Wednesday at the Barbados Football Association (BFA) headquarters in the Garfield Sobers Sports Complex.

The highly anticipated competition, the Prime Minister’s Cup, gets underway on 25 August and runs until 30 November – Independence Day. Total investment in the competition will total BDS $150,000.

Barbadian footballers will benefit tremendously, with players receiving a match fee of $125 in the group stage.

Players will also earn $150 for the round of 16 stage, $200 for the quarterfinals, $250 for the semifinals, and $300 for the grand finals.

Twenty four clubs are expected to participate – all 10 of the teams in the BFA Premier League, the top six from Division One, and the top four each from the Second and Third Divisions, based on 2023 standings.

More than 600 players will be involved, with the first round matches being held at community grounds. The knock-out matches will be played at the Wildey Astroturf and the final at Kensington Oval.

No transfers are permitted but there will be a mini draft system, and trades will be allowed. Games will be broadcast on local television and online.

Speaking during the official launch, Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley said the tournament is the Government’s way of creating a platform for footballers to excel.

“If we are serious about the clear determination that we must be global citizens with Bajan roots, then we have to build the platform in which that can happen.

“The reality is whether it is boys or girls playing football, this country needs greater structure and greater opportunities in football if we are to rise to the next level. Some will be able to go on and find lucrative contracts. Some will be able to work in the ecosystem of football. We have a duty therefore to start to lift our game up. If we want to have a developmental role it means that Government must now step in to play that role,” she said.

She emphasised that even though the private sector could not finance a tournament of this magnitude, the government has decided to get engaged for the same kind of growth, given that young people are becoming more and more interested in football.

“There are not a lot of companies who would step up to the plate, and they are also looking at many other national activities from cultural activities right back through. So the bottomline is that one of the limitations of being small is that the state sometimes must take the lead in terms of entrepreneurship. When Barbados became an independent country, Errol Barrow understood that, and that is why the Hilton hotel was built at a time when no Barbadian private sector entity would have taken that scale of risk to build that scale of hotel in a country this size.

“If we are to change our fortunes in Barbados, we need to be able to ensure that we have the administrative structure and the opportunities in tournaments such as this. I hope that at some point there will be a regional professional league,” Mottley added.

The prime minister is also urging young Barbadians players to pay close attention to their health and wellbeing if they are to reach the very top in sports.

“If this tournament achieves nothing else but a change in the culture and the ecosystem surrounding how our sporting people prepare and sustain themselves, and make themselves capable of being the best that they can be, such that they go to the next level, then I would say Hallelujah,” she stated.

Mottley said that the Prime Minister’s Cup will also provide opportunities for entrepreneurs.

“The fundamental difference with this tournament must be a clear understanding of the profiles and the opportunities for every player, so that we work collectively between the public and the private sector to ensure that we put these persons on a sustainable path for a livelihood.”

Chairman of the organising committee Omari Eastmond echoed the prime minister’s sentiments, and added that the discipline within the tournament will be strictly enforced, with zero tolerance for any form of violence.

“Football has always been a source of structure and discipline. The Prime Minister would have highlighted for this semi-professional tournament, no violence. I want to encourage you and let you know from early that there will be a heavy police presence at the community fields.”

“It is a way to tap into our talent on the island and give them purpose, allowing them to strive in structured settings giving them a chance to have a financial reward,” he said.

All players will be expected to take part in self confidence and self esteem building, conflict resolution, and entrepreneurship workshops as part of the tournament plans.

(shamarblunt@barbadostoday.bb)