(L-R) FIFA Development Officer Howard McIntosh, GFF Normalisation Committee Chairman Clinton Urling and GFF Head of Referees Stanley Lancaster during a visit to Linden on August 22.
Chairman of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Normalisation Committee Clinton Urling along with FIFA’s Development Officer Mr. Howard McIntosh and other officials of the GFF visited Linden on Saturday August 22 with the aim of meeting with the region’s policy makers, including the parliamentary representatives and the Regional Chairman Mr. Renis Morian to discuss the possibilities for football development in the region, including the upgrading of facilities, instillation of artificial turf and the establishment of a football technical centre. 
However, the meetings never materialized because the Linden policy makers had to attend to other urgent matters.
The visiting team nonetheless scouted several locations in Linden to assess what the needs are and what could be developed. The sites included the Bayroc Community Centre, the Mackenzie Sports Club Ground and the Christianburg Community Centre.
Urling was not discouraged that the meetings did not occur and commented that “it’s not debilitating or something that will deter us from fulfilling our mandate which says that we should invest in the communities outside of Georgetown and develop their football infrastructure”
The GFF Normalisation Committee Chairman further added, “Linden is important to the GFF not just the administrative side of it, but also to expand on the infrastructure that exist presently. But we need to meet with stakeholders to ensure the GFF can have some agreement with them so that we can begin those infrastructure works. FIFA requires at minimum, either a user requirement for the properties or a lease for us to put down any significant investment”.
Urling also pointed out that on Tuesday August 25, one of FIFA’s Technical Inspectors would be in Guyana to primarily conduct work at the GFF’s Providence facility but also, the “the GFF will bring him to Linden to test the soil samples and make recommendations on suitability to the GFF and FIFA and which is the best area to invest. We will continue talks with Government to get a solution on how we can move forward.”