Digicel rings in US$270,000 for Caribbean Cup.
T&T Guardian Reports.
T&T Soca Warriors will be one of 23 regional teams which will be in the hunt for the US$120,000 first prize, the largest ever in the history of regional football, when the 2010 Digicel Caribbean Cup kicks off next month.
This was stated by Kieran Foley, Digicel Group Marketing Operations Director, at the launch of this years competition at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Wrightson Road, yesterday.
The tournament will begin on October 2 in Puerto Rico and then switches to St Vincent and The Grenadines, Suriname and Dominican Republic until October 17 to complete first round play.
From the group stage the top two teams in each of the four groups will qualify for the Second Round qualifying series, which kicks off on October 20 in Grenada with two other groups to be contested in T&T and Antigua & Barbuda.
For the Second Round, the higher ranked Caribbean countries in T&T, Cuba and Guadeloupe have secured automatic places alongside Haiti, Grenada and Antigua & Barbuda.
The three Second Round group winners and runners-ups will then advance to the eight-team finals to be contested in Martinique from November 26 to December 5. T&T will host a Second Round group from November 2 to 6 which includes Haiti, the winner of Group C (Suriname, Guyana, St Lucia, Netherland Antilles) and the best second placed team among the four first round groups.
The only other countries to have captured the regional crown are Haiti (2006) and two-time finalist, Martinique (1993). Apart from the winner, Cuba, Grenada, St Kitts/Nevis and St Vincent and The Grenadines are the only other countries to have contested the finals of the premier regional football competition.
The Digicel Caribbean Cup champion will collect US$120,000 while second gets $US70,000; third collects US$50,000 and fourth $US30,000. The top four teams will also qualify for the 2011 Concacaf Gold Cup which will be contested in the USA next June.
In his address, Foley boasted that for this years event Digicel has invested heavily in the TV production to broadcast the games across the Caribbean and internationally to as many people as possible.
President of the Caribbean Football Union and Concacaf boss, and Fifa vice-president Jack Warner, commented: “Its amazing to think that just six years ago the tournament was only one week long with 16 matches. Today, we have a tournament that can stand alongside some of the biggest in the world.”
Digicel Caribbean Cup 2010 groupings
Stage One:
Group A: Puerto Rico, St Martin, Cayman Islands, Anguilla (October 2 to 6).
Group B: St Vincent & Grenadines, Barbados, St Kitts/Nevis, Montserrat (October 6 to 10).
Group C: Suriname, Guyana, St Lucia, Netherland Antilles (October 13 to 17).
Group D: Dominican Republic, British Virgin Islands, Dominica (October 13 to 17)
Second Stage:
Group E: Grenada, Guadeloupe, Winner B, Winner A (October 20 -24).
Group F: T&T, Haiti, Winner C, Best Second place (November 2 to 6)
Group G: Antigua & Barbuda, Cuba, Winner Second Best Second place (November 10 to 14).
NB: Teams mentioned first in the group stages are host of the qualifiers.
Finals: (Nov 26 to Dec 5 - Martinique)
Group X: Martinique,Winner F, Winner G, Runner-up E.
Group Y: Jamaica, Winner E, Runner-up F, Runner-up G
Semifinals:
Winner Group X vs Runner-up Group Y
Winner Group Y vs Runner-up Group X
