SCHEDULES SET FOR T&T YOUTH TEAMS....as CONCACAF EXco meets in LA
BY Shaun Fuentes (TTFF)
If Trinidad and Tobago’s National Under 20 team can get past Jamaica in their Caribbean Football Union (CFU) two-match playoffs early next month, they will progress to the CONCACAF final round of qualification towards the FIFA World Youth Championship 2007 in a group which comprises fellow Caribbean team St Kitts/Nevis, hosts Mexico and Costa Rica.
This as well as the draw for the CONCACAF Final Round of Under 17 qualification was determined when the draw was held in Los Angeles on Friday as the CONCACAF Executive Committee was also held.
In the Under 20 competition Groups A & B have been confirmed to take place in Panama and Mexico, respectively.
Panama will host Group A at the Rommel Fernández Stadium in Panama City from January 17-21 and will feature Guatemala, Haiti and the USA.
Mexico, who is staging Group B at the Carlos González y González Stadium in Culiacán, Sinaloa, has Costa Rica, St. Kitts & Nevis and the winner of the Jamaica – Trinidad & Tobago playoff.
The top two teams from each of these groups will qualify to the FIFA U-20 World Cup Canada 2007.
In the Under 17 category, T&T’s Under 17 team, already through to the final stage, will travel to Jamaica for Group B action where they will come up against the hosts, Canada, United States and Costa Rica from April 16-26.
Group A that will be held at the Tiburcio Carias Andino Stadium in Tegucigalpa, Honduras from April 4-8 and has El Salvador, Haiti, Mexico alongside the hosts.
Head coach Anton Corneal will soon resume preparations with the under 17s following the end of the Secondary Schools Football League season this month while the Under 20s are engaged in friendlies this weekend against Venezuela ahead of their away match with Jamaica on December 3 at the Harbour View mini Stadium and then in Trinidad on December 7.
CONCACAF President Jack Warner was at the helm of packed agenda at the CONCACAF where the Executive Committee (Exco) reached a number of important decisions in a wide range of areas. And among that is a decision to support a proposed bid for the T&T Football Federation to host the Under 17 FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2010.
The Exco also confirmed that CONCACAF would be lobbying FIFA for four automatic spots for the FIFA World Cup South Africa 2010. During the meeting, CONCACAF General Secretary Chuck Blazer commented, “When we look at the performance of CONCACAF’s fourth team in Germany 2006, Trinidad & Tobago, we see a team that not only held Sweden to a draw but was also just minutes from achieving a similar result against England. Certainly there is an excellent case that CONCACAF has the strength in depth to justify four automatic spots in the 2010 World Cup.”
In other decisions, the CONCACAF Exco decided to:
• require all member associations of CONCACAF, from 2007, to have a representative on their own Executive Committee responsible for the development and management of a women’s football program.
• mandate CONCACAF’s representatives to FIFA to pursue the immediate implementation of the Referees Assistance Program (RAP), the proposed Program having previously been accepted by the FIFA Executive Committee. The RAP is aimed at increasing the quality of refereeing at all levels of football around the world by supporting a structure at the national association level to develop referees.
• support a proposed bid by the Trinidad & Tobago Football Federation to host the U17 FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2010.
• further request that, in recognition of the increased number of mandatory events organized by Confederations, CONCACAF representative’s to FIFA lobby for an increase in FIFA Assistance Program funding for the Confederations. The FAP to Confederations has not been increased for eight years although in this same period the number of events in the global football calendar has increased dramatically.
• act upon, at the next Exco meeting, a proposal by the CONCACAF Secretariat to develop the CONCACAF Champions’ Cup™ into a larger “Champions’ League” style event, beginning in 2009.
In discussing issues affecting Member Associations of CONCACAF, the Exco decided to request the Belize FA to postpone their elections to the first week of March, allowing sufficient time for CONCACAF to ensure all statutory requirements have been met.
Following the formal business of the meeting, the CONCACAF Vice President representing North America, Mr. Alan Rothenberg, announced his decision to not seek re-election to the post when his existing term ends in 2007. CONCACAF President Warner expressed his heartfelt thanks for many years of service by Mr. Rothenberg to football in the USA, throughout CONCACAF and the wider world. He then recommended that Mr. Rothenberg be nominated as a CONCACAF representative on FIFA’s newly formed Committee for Fair Play and Social Responsibility. The President’s recommendation was supported unanimously by the Executive Committee. (November 25, 2006)