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Where is Jamaal Shabazz?
– Golden Jaguars Head Coach absent from training camp in Jamaica and Miami
By Rawle Toney
Slingerz FC teammates, Jeremy Garrett (L) and Leo Lovell, in action during a training session in Jamaica with the Golden Jaguars (GFF photo)
Kaieteur News – Guyana’s National Football team is gearing up for the CONCACAF Gold Cup, but there’s a cloud of uncertainty surrounding the absence of Head Coach Jamaal Shabazz.
Golden Jaguars Head Coach – Jamaal Shabazz
The Golden Jaguars just wrapped up a training camp in Jamaica and departed the Land of Wood and Water yesterday for Miami, where they will be based until their June 17 clash with Grenada at the Drive Pink Stadium.
However, Shabazz didn’t travel with the team to Kingston, and was not part of the contingent that arrived in Miami.
Shabazz had a two-year imprisonment for his involvement in the 1990 Jamaat al Muslimeen coup attempt, which would later hamper him from travelling to some countries, including the USA, where conditions are applied.
In 2012 when the Golden Jaguars played Mexico at the BBVA Compass Stadium, Shabazz could not have made the trek, leaving team’s Assistant Coach, Wayne Dover to lead the squad in battle.
Dover has had two stints of leading the Golden Jaguars; first in 2009/2010, and then a short-lived stay in 2017.
Golden Jaguars Assistant Coach Wayne Dover has been in charge of the team in the absence of Coach Jamaal Shabazz.
Kaieteur News was unable to ascertain if the travel constraints placed on Shabazz is the reason for his absence in Jamaica at least, since officials at the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) secretariat in Georgetown are tight-lipped on this newspaper’s queries which are going unanswered and information being filtered off the record.
Having first taken charge of the Golden Jaguars in 2005, Shabazz, in September of 2021, made his fourth stop as the Golden Jaguars Head Coach.
Shabazz departed in 2016 following a heart-breaking 4 – 2 defeat to Reggae Boyz at the National Track and Field Centre in the 2016 Caribbean Cup Qualifiers, where the Jamaicans came from being down 2 – 0 at half time to win.
Since then, the Golden Jaguars were led by Shabazz’s assistant, Wayne Dover, former Jamaica International Michael Johnson and recently, Brazilian Marcio Maximo.
Meanwhile, though CONCACAF has released the preliminary list of players all countries participation in the Gold Cup, the GFF reticent on their announcement of the players who have made the trip to Jamaica and Miami.
On the list of players released by CONCACAF are Pernell Schultz, Kelsey Benjamin, Colin Nelson and Sese Norville from the Guyana Defence Force (GDF). However, the aforementioned players didn’t leave Guyana owing to visa complications and other issues.
Six locally-based players drawn from Slingerz FC (Leo Lovell, Akel Clarke and Jeremy Garrett), and Western Tigers (Curtez Kellman, Trayon Bobb and Daniel Wilson), joined 22 players from the UK, USA and Canada for the training camp.
The GFF has been smug in their media relations regarding the Golden Jaguars since the majority of the local press were unable to have an opportunity to have their many questions answered.
Guyana is making its third appearance at the Gold Cup, having qualified for the Main Draw in 2019 and reaching the Preliminary Round in 2021.
If successful against Grenada, the Golden Jaguars will face the winner between Guadalupe and Trinidad and Tobago for a chance to play in the Main Draw against Canada, Guatemala, and Cuba in Group D.
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