Caribbean Football Union (CFU) president, Jack Warner is expected to challenge his membership to find new and innovative mechanisms to confront the unique challenges facing the region.
Warner will speak at the 34th Congress of the CFU which Jamaican Minister of Sport, Youth and Culture, Olivia Grange is scheduled to address next Tuesday in Montego Bay, Jamaica.
The Congress is the most vital component of the CFU programme as it sets the agenda and determines the direction the region’s governing body of football will take over the next year.
In a pre-Congress statement, Warner noted that the journey for 2011 is not for the faint-hearted and that great results would not come overnight.
He also stated that while the challenges facing the membership may not be new, they should not define nor dictate the rate of progress. Warner pointed out that, at the Congress, he would ask his membership to incite a movement, one whereby all would work together to move toward and create a brighter future.
With a level of uncertainty still shrouding the world economy, the CFU boss is also expected to address the complex and sometimes turbulent economic situation facing the region.
He expressed the view that many of the Associations continue to face declining sponsorship deals, demands from various stakeholders all wanting a piece of a shrinking a pie.
Warner asked that the membership continue to ensure that football is attractive and cited areas that make it challenging for members to satisfy their stakeholders such as; when a player fails to perform or when a league fails.
Warner, who will be serving his eighth term as the CFU head, will be addressing the issue of Youth Development and his observations on a shifting of the status quo in Caribbean football, both of which will have a significant impact on realising CFU’s dreams for the FIFA World Cup 2014 in Brazil.
CFU general secretary Angenie Kanhai has described the agenda of the 2011 Congress as oriented to overall development and will see the unveiling of a number of plans to achieve some stated objectives.
Both the president and the general secretary expects that this Congress will be an unparalleled success that will signal another leg on the journey towards achieving success on the world stage of football.
In related news, all Executive Committee members will be nominated unopposed on Tuesday which means that Warner and the incumbent executive will be reinstated for another four-year term.