THE Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport, through the initiative of its Parliamentary Secretary Steve Ninvalle and with sponsorship from Ansa McAl and the National Sports Commission, will revive the Beterverwagting (BV) Inter-Block Football Tournament.

The tournament, which is set to commence tomorrow at the BV ground where all matches will be played, is being sponsored by the Ansa McAl group, through its Mackenson brand.

Addressing members of the media yesterday at his Ministry’s office, Main and Quamina Streets, Ninvalle informed that himself and Joseph `Bill’ Wilson had discussions about reviving the competition some time ago and he (Ninvalle) pledged his ministry’s support for the venture.

According to Ninvalle, an approach was made to Ansa McAl whose marketing representative Nigel Worrell readily agreed to seek his company’s approval and the entity in turn agreed to be the major sponsor through its Mackenson Brand.

Worrell, in brief remarks, said his company always makes positive contributions to the development of youths and sports in Guyana and. “we want to resuscitate this competition”.

Ninvalle said the tournament will serve as a precursor to the Inter-Village competition on the East Coast of Demerara and Ansa McAl has pledged its commitment for this tournament also.

Wilson said all the matches in the competition will be played at the BV ground and will involve four blocks which will each have its own coordinator.

He said there will be competition for the senior players as well as the Under-17s, and the competition which will commence at 18:00 h tomorrow will conclude on May 1 and on that particular day, a Georgetown Ladies’ X1 will tackle their counterparts from East Coast in a friendly engagement.

Tomorrow, Presidential Adviser on Empowerment, Odinga Lumumba, will make his first public appearance since being involved in a motor vehicle accident last year and will address the participating teams.

Minister of Sport Dr Frank Anthony will deliver the feature address.

Director of Sport Neil Kumar commended Ninvalle for organising the tournament and challenged him to extend his programme to the East Bank of Demerara as well as on the West Demerara.

The blocks that will contest the Mackenson Inter-Block tournament are: Housing Scheme which comprises Market Street, Quamina Road, Republic Drive and Granville Park; Sideline Dam which is made up of Canterbury Walk, Ujaama Housing Scheme, Market Street and Moravian Drive; Triumph Village which includes Republic Drive, Railway Embankment and Market Street; and BV/Triumph which encompasses Market Street, Sideline Dam and Seneral Drive.

The coordinators for the various blocks are: Edward Profitt (Housing Scheme), Colin Jones (Sideline Dam), Linden Dennis (Triumph Village) and Uaan Grant (BV/Triumph South).

The rules of the competition state that all players must be living in BV/Triumph/Ujaama Housing District and all teams and players must register with the organiser at least 24 hours before the start of the competition; when called upon, any player must produce proof of date of birth; the fixtures are the sole responsibility of the organiser; three points will be awarded for a win, one for a draw and nil for a loss; coordinator of each block is responsible for the discipline of their players and supporters and in addition, all FIFA rules are in effect.

Tomorrow, Triumph Village tackle BV/Triumph South in the feature game from 20:00 h in a senior match, while from 18:00 h, Housing Scheme face Sideline Dam in an Under-17 fixture.