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No later than June 24, GFF to name Golden Jaguars Head Coach
By Rawle Toney
Kaieteur sports – The Golden Jaguars could soon have a new head coach, according to President of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF), Wayne Forde, who revealed that the federation has received over 200 applications for the position.
FLASHBACK! GFF president, Wayne Forde (L), sharing a moment recently with former Golden Jaguars Head Coach, Jamaal Shabazz.
Speaking on the sidelines at the National Track and Field Centre following Guyana’s 3–0 win over Montserrat that concluded the country’s FIFA 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign, Forde said the GFF has already completed the final phase of interviews for the role left vacant by Jamaal Shabazz. In the interim, Wayne Dover has been acting as head coach.
“I’m expecting the committee that is managing the recruitment process to have a report to me by Wednesday of next week, the latest,” Forde told reporters. “And I’m hoping that by the 21st (June) or before we’ll be making an announcement on who that person is going to be.”
According to Forde, “Once we (the GFF) identify the top performer in the recruitment process, then we will get into the negotiation, salaries and all the different things, incentives. This is what hiring a national head coach entails.”
“So, once that process is over, we will move very quickly because we know the nation and the programme has been holding their breath for a while, and we really want to get that out of the way, but it’s been a very tedious process,” the GFF president stated.
Forde acknowledged that the recruitment exercise has been demanding, stating, “I’m happy that we are at the final stage of that and we’re hoping to make an announcement no later than the 24th of June.”
Interim Golden Jaguars Head Coach, Wayne Dover
The GFF president highlighted that he has been deliberately distanced from the selection process, “I’m not involved in the recruitment process. The recruitment process is being chaired by a member of the council and there are other key individuals from our stakeholder community that we’ve put together to do the recruitment.”
He added, “I will receive a recommendation from them and I will consider that recommendation but at the same time it will be discussed at the council level before a final decision is taken. So of course, I had a chance to look at the chart listed resumes, was briefed at the end of most of the interviews, but I haven’t been hands-on in the process, which is for all the right reasons.”
On October 30, 2024, Jamaal Shabazz parted ways with the Golden Jaguars, three years after returning for his fourth stint as head coach of the national team.
Shabazz had returned in September 2021, replacing Brazilian coach Marcio Maximo, who exited after Guyana’s campaign in the Concacaf Gold Cup preliminaries in July that year.
Previously, Shabazz served as head coach from January 2005 to December 2008, returned from August 2011 to November 2012, and again led the team in 12 matches between January 2015 and October 2016. During his most recent tenure, he guided Guyana to an unbeaten run in League B of the Concacaf Nations League, securing historic promotion to League A.
Following his departure, Coach Dover took charge of the Golden Jaguars. While there were brief signs of promise under his leadership, the senior men’s national team failed to advance to the Gold Cup and exited the FIFA World Cup qualifiers after an underwhelming performance.
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