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By Neto Baptiste
The start of the Calvin Ayre Foundation-sponsored Women’s Football League has been delayed by at least two weeks.
Technical director for the Antigua and Barbuda Football Association (ABFA), Sowerby Gomes, confirmed to Observer media that the league, originally scheduled to kick off on September 20th at the FA’s technical and training facility, will now commence on October 5th.
This he said, is due to requests from some teams for more preparation time.
“That was strictly as it relates to having met with the female teams that will be taking part in this particular league and they are asking for certain level of preparations to still take place. Even in addition, we needed to get some information from them so that all the teams can be properly structured and registered in the start of this league,” he said.
The league will follow three weekends of knockout tournaments held in July. Wadadli United FC won two of the three knockout tournaments put on by the ABFA as they sought to beef up interest ahead of the women’s league. The other knockout tournament was captured by Empire Trendsetters.
Gomes denied reports the FA was forced to postpone the start of the league after teams said they would not take the field until they were paid their winnings from the knockout.
“No, that has certainly not delayed the start as relates to the payment of these teams, but notwithstanding, I can’t answer definitively as if all the female teams have been paid their prize money for the knockout that has been taking place. But the league that we’re looking to have for the females is totally separate and apart from the knockout that we had. The knockout we had was a more preparatory stage for the players getting in shape for their league,” he said.
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