CONCACAF News Thread

[Spursy]

Cordner, Jan-Michael nominated for CONCACAF awards
National forward Kennya “Yaya” Cordner has been nominated for CONCACAF “Female Player of the Year” after a stellar 2014 which saw the speedy Tobagonian and the Women Soca Warriors just miss out on a place in the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Cordner, who was TT’s top scorer at the CONCACAF Women’s Championship, was previously named in the All-Star team of that tournament.

The 26-year-old will vie for the award alongside global star Abby Wambach, goalkeeper Hope Solo, midfielder Lauren Holiday, forward Alex Morgan, midfielder Carli Lloyd (USA); Canada’s Christine Sinclair; Costa Rican’s Raquel Cedeno and Shirley Cruz as well as Mexico’s Veronica Corral.

Meanwhile, national goalkeeper Jan-Michael Williams, who also missed out on glory after losing on penalty kicks with the Soca Warriors in the Caribbean Cup final is nominated for the Best Goalkeeper award.

The awards, which will be presented for the second time in 2014, have been designed to recognise the top players, coaches and referees in women’s and men’s events from the CONCACAF region.

The CONCACAF Awards honour players and achievements in CONCACAF-sanctioned tournaments and competitions involving the Confederation’s national teams at all levels, including FIFA World Cups and World Cup qualifying for both genders, in all age categories. Performances also eligible for recognition include those achieved in professional club football leagues under CONCACAF’s stewardship in North America, Central America and the Caribbean, as well as the CONCACAF Champions League.

Fans can have their say in the voting by visiting the fan voting page on CONCACAF.com. Voting is open till 5pm on December 19.

Final votes in each of the six categories will be tallied and the winners announced by the end of the year, via CONCACAF.com.

Link: http://www.newsday.co.tt/sport/0,204157.html

[Spursy]

T&T female striker lines up for CONCACAF Awards
On the back of an outstanding showing at the CONCACAF Women’s Championship, Trinidad and Tobago’s Kennya “Yaya” Cordner has been nominated for CONCACAF “Female Player of the Year” Award.

The Tobago-born striker who was T&T’s top-scorer was also named in the Tournament’s All-Star Team.

Among her rivals for the award are: Abby Wambach, goalkeeper Hope Solo, midfielder Lauren Holiday, forward Alex Morgan, midfielder Carli Lloyd (USA); Canada’s Christine Sinclair; Costa Ricans Raquel Cedeno and Shirley Cruz as well as Mexico’s Veronica Corral.
Link: http://www.sportsmax.tv/?q=articles/2014/12/12/tt-female-striker-lines-concacaf-awards

[Spursy]

Four-time Gold Cup champ Beasley retires from U.S.

The USA's DaMarcus Beasley (pictured) announced his retirement from international football on December 15, 2014. (Photo: FIFA via Getty Images)
CHICAGO – United States defender DaMarcus Beasley announced Monday his retirement from international football after 14 years, 121 games and 17 goals.  He will continue to play with the Houston Dynamo in Major League Soccer.

This past summer, Beasley became the first U.S. player to make an appearance in four FIFA World Cups (2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014), starting all four games in Brazil.

The 32-year-old has won four CONCACAF Gold Cups (2002, 2005, 2007 and 2013).

Beasley first made a name for himself on the global stage by winning the Silver Ball at the 1999 FIFA U-17 Youth World Championship as the tournament's second-best player.  In 2001, he played in every minute of the 2001 FIFA U-20 World Cup.

Professionally, Beasley was the first American to score in the UEFA Champions League for two teams - Rangers and PSV Eindhoven - and holds the U.S. record with 22 appearances in the competition.

He’s won two Dutch league championships with PSV and two Scottish titles with Rangers, as well as a pair of U.S. Open Cup crowns with the Chicago Fire.

[Spursy]

CONCACAF announces 13 host cities in US, Canada for 2015 Gold Cup

The US national team will begin the defense of their CONCACAF Gold Cup title in July in Dallas, one of 13 North American host cities for the event unveiled by CONCACAF on Tuesday.

FC Dallas' Toyota Stadium will host the USMNT's tournament-opening match in the venue's first-ever Gold Cup game on July 7.

Toronto's BMO Field will also play host for the first time in the tournament’s history, marking the mark the first time the confederation’s flagship international event has been played in Canada.

The other host cities announced on Tuesday are Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia and Phoenix. The tournament runs July 7-26, and the host city for the championship game will be announced early next year.

In addition to the stadiums in Dallas and Toronto, four other venues that serve as homes for MLS clubs will be used during the tournament: LA Galaxy's StubHub Center, New England's Gillette Stadium, Houston's BBVA Compass Stadium, and KC's Sporting Park. 

“We would like to thank all cities and venues across the United States – and in fact North America as a whole --for their continued interest in our Confederation’s marque event, the Gold Cup. We congratulate those which have been selected to host the 2015 edition,” CONCACAF President Jeffrey Webb said in a statement. “The explosive growth of the game across CONCACAF has been on display recently on the world’s stage, and we now look forward to bringing this success home to our regional fans during our premier tournament.”

The US team anchors Group A, and will play in Gillette Stadium outside Boston (July 10) and Kansas City’s Sporting Park (July 13) after they open the tournament at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas on July 7. The Americans won the 2013 Gold Cup crown, their first title since 2007.

Costa Rica, the seeded team in Group B, begin play at StubHub Center in Carson, Calif., on July 8, then move on to Houston’s BBVA Compass Stadium on July 11 and Toronto’s BMO Field July 14.

Mexico will anchor Group C and play at Chicago’s Soldier Field on July 9, Phoenix’s University of Phoenix Stadium on July 12 and Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium on July 15.

The Georgia Dome (Atlanta), Lincoln Financial Field (Philadelphia), M&T Bank Stadium (Baltimore), and MetLife Stadium (East Rutherford, N.J.) will all host knockout round dates.

Complete groups and schedule including selection of dates and assignment of matches for the knockout round and the awarding of the final, will be announced in early 2015.

2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup Host Cities & Venues

Group Round

July 7 (Group A) - Dallas – Toyota Stadium (Frisco, TX)
July 8 (Group B) - Los Angeles – StubHub Center (Carson, CA)
July 9 (Group C) - Chicago – Soldier Field (Chicago, IL)
July 10 (Group A) - Boston – Gillette Stadium (Foxborough, MA)
July 11 (Group B) - Houston – BBVA Compass Stadium (Houston, TX)
July 12 (Group C) - Phoenix – University of Phoenix Stadium (Phoenix, AZ)
July 13 (Group A) - Kansas City – Sporting Park (Kansas City, KS)
July 14 (Group B) - Toronto – BMO Field (Toronto, ON)
July 15 (Group C) - Charlotte – Bank of America Stadium (Charlotte, NC)

Knockout Round Venues (alphabetical order by city)

Georgia Dome (Atlanta, GA)
M&T Bank Stadium (Baltimore, MD)
MetLife Stadium (East Rutherford, NJ)
Lincoln Financial Field (Philadelphia, PA)
http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2014/12/16/concacaf-announces-13-host-cities-us-canada-2015-gold-cup?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=News&utm_campaign=Unpaid

[Spursy]

CONCACAF Gold Cup knockout round venues unveiled
The knockout rounds of next year's CONCACAF Gold Cup will be played at Atlanta, Baltimore and Philadelphia along with East Rutherford, New Jersey, and part of the tournament will be played in Canada for the first time.
The United States will open its title defense in the 12-nation championship of North and Central America and the Caribbean on July 7 at Frisco, Texas, CONCACAF announced Tuesday.
The Americans, who are in Group A, play three days later at Foxborough, Massachusetts, and close their first round July 13 at Kansas City, Kansas.
Costa Rica will be in Group B and open July 9 at Carson, California, then play three days later at Houston and July 14 at Toronto.
In Group C, Mexico starts July 9 at Chicago, plays three days later at Glendale, Arizona, and then July 15 at Charlotte, North Carolina.
The site of the final is to be announced next year. The tournament also includes Canada, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Jamaica, Panama and Trinidad and Tobago. The final spot will be determined by a playoff between French Guyana and Honduras on March 25 and 29.
The U.S. won the 2013 title and if it wins next year's tournament will qualify for the 2017 Confederations Cup in Russia. If another nation wins the 2015 Gold Cup, it would meet the Americans in a playoff for the Confederations Cup berth.
http://www.foxsports.com/soccer/story/concacaf-gold-cup-knockout-round-locations-atlanta-baltimore-philadelphia-121614

[Spursy]

Navas, Wambach named 2014 CONCACAF Players of the Year

Four others honored in second-annual Confederation Awards

Miami (Tuesday, December 23, 2014) – The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) today named Costa Rica’s Keylor Navas and Abby  Wambach of the United States the 2014 CONCACAF Male and Female Players of the Year, as the Confederation revealed honorees in six different categories for the second-annual CONCACAF Awards.
 
In an equally-weighted vote among Member Association women’s and men’s national team coaches and captains, media and fans, Real Madrid goalkeeper Navas comfortably outdistanced countryman Bryan Ruiz, the second-place finisher in the Male Player of the Year category.
 
Wambach, who last year finished second to fellow U.S. international Alex Morgan in the Female Player of the Year vote, this year edged out Shirley Cruz of the Costa Rica Women’s National Team and club side Paris St. Germain (FRA) for the top women’s honor.
 
In the other categories, Tim Howard (Everton & United States) was named as Goalkeeper of the Year for a second straight year, Jorge Luis Pinto won Coach of the Year for his exploits at the helm of the Costa Rican National Team, American Mark Geiger was named Referee of the Year and Bryan Ruiz’s historic World Cup strike against Italy in June was adjudged to be CONCACAF’s Goal of the Year.
 
The CONCACAF Awards are designed to honor the year’s outstanding performers and achievements in confederation-sanctioned competitions involving national teams at all levels and age categories, including FIFA World Cup matches and qualifying for both genders.  Performances also eligible for recognition included those achieved in professional club football leagues within the CONCACAF Member Associations, as well as the CONCACAF Champions League.
 
The votes of three important stake-holding segments within the Confederation were counted in compiling the results.  Member Associations’ national team coaches and captains (women’s and men’s), accredited media and fans each accounted for one third of the final vote.
 
A semifinal list of 10 nominees in each category was determined by a vote of Technical Directors from each of CONCACAF’s 41 Member Associations and the CONCACAF Technical Study Group, which analyzes tactics and rates performances at all official CONCACAF tournaments.
 
Here’s a closer look at each of the categories:
 
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Winner:  Keylor Navas, Goalkeeper (Real Madrid/ESP & Costa Rica)
Second:  Bryan Ruiz, Forward (Fulham FC/ENG & Costa Rica)
Third:  Tim Howard, Goalkeeper (Everton/ENG & United States)
 
Navas was the standout goalkeeper at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, and followed up that outstanding performance with a high profile transfer to La Liga heavyweight Real Madrid.
 
FEMALE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Winner:  Abby Wambach, Forward (Western New York Flash/USA & United States)
Second:  Shirley Cruz, Midfielder (Paris Saint Germain/FRA & Costa Rica)
Third:  Veronica Charlyn Corral (Merilappi United/FIN & Mexico)
 
Wambach enjoyed an outstanding season for both club and country, highlighted by a four-goal performance in the championship match of the 2014 CONCACAF Women’s Championship, during which she led her nation to victory over second place finisher Shirley Cruz and Costa Rica.
 
GOALKEEPER OF THE YEAR
Winner:  Tim Howard (Everton/ENG & United States)
Second:  Guillermo Ochoa (Malaga/ESP & Mexico)
Third:  Keylor Navas (Real Madrid/ESP & Costa Rica)
 
While these three CONCACAF goalkeepers all shone in Brazil, Howard’s sensational play proved to be pivotal for the United States at the 2014 World Cup.  In a 2-1 extra time knockout round loss to Belgium, the Everton goalkeeper set a World Cup individual game record for saves.
 
COACH OF THE YEAR
Winner:  Jorge Luis Pinto (Costa Rica)
Second:  Luis Fernando Suarez (Honduras)
Third:  Oscar Ramirez (LD Alajuelense/CRC)
 
Costa Rica’s exceptional quarterfinal run at the World Cup – coming up just short of the semis after a shootout loss to Holland – was more than enough to comfortably assure Pinto the CONCACAF Coach of the Year award.
 
REFEREE OF THE YEAR
Winner:  Mark Geiger (USA)
Second:  Marco Antonio Rodriguez (Mexico)
Third:  Walter Quesada (Costa Rica)
 
Mark Geiger refereed three matches at the 2014 World Cup, including the Round of 16 match between France and Nigeria. He was also selected as the man in the middle for the 2014 MLS Cup earlier this month in Los Angeles. Geiger was additionally named 2014 Major League Soccer Referee of the Year.

GOAL OF THE YEAR
Winner:  Bryan Ruiz, Costa Rica v Italy, 44th minute (June 20, 2014)
Second:  Esteban Ramirez, Herediano v Saprissa, 20th minute (November 2, 2014)
Third:  Joel Campbell, Costa Rica v Uruguay, 54th minute (June 14, 2014)
 
After an opening match defeat of traditional South American power Uruguay, Bryan Ruiz’s 44th minute strike against Italy set Costa Rica on the road to another scalping of one of world football’s giants, and proved a pivotal moment in the CONCACAF side’s enthralling World Cup quarterfinal run.

[Tallman]

So Navas win Player of de Year, but finished third in Goalkeeper of the Year? Strange.

[Spursy]

It is strange since Tim Howard won goalkeeper of the year. What did Navas do besides making it to the quarter finals?

[Bakes]

So Navas win Player of de Year, but finished third in Goalkeeper of the Year? Strange.

US fan voting probably ensured Howard got Goalkeeper of the Year... honestly I voted for him too.  I think I voted for Ruiz for Player of the Year.

[AB.Trini]

Biggest setback of the year- TNT senior women's lost to Ecuador
Fullest goal of the Year- Ecuador Women's team against TNT
Most evident political ploy of the year TnT government trying to look like saviours after public shaming of underfunding fiasco
Disappointing showing by two senior teams "Caribbean" champions TnT men and women losing when it mattered most

[Deeks]

Just saw Club America from Mex. beat Montreal 4-2 for the Concacaf club final. MTL was leading 1-0 at half time and was playing fast attacking ball. But they left themselves vulnerable to the counter and paid the price. So another Mex. club going to the World championship.

[Flex]

Where Concacaf and T&T football go from here.
By Alvin Corneal (Guardian).

Few would have expected that the wonderful game of football could have been so directly entangled with issues like bribery, racketeering, money laundering, and more complicated acts of individuals earning money illegally.

The shockwaves ran through 209 countries across the world faster than a nuclear weapon and discomforted many nations over the news which may have brought charges of indictment, immediate arrests, and promises of further charges as the United States authority continue their investigations for the sake of cleaning up football forever globally.

Superficially, the accusations which came from media who have been paying close attention to Fifa and their years of dubious financial accountability, were clearly working as hard as the legal luminaries to expose what they considered to be the wrong doings of deals of bribery, which crossed the boundaries between sports marketing companies and members of the Fifa executive.

The bubble has busted and the stench of dishonesty has made its way through almost every confederation, with Concacaf very prominent in the fold. The principle of the phrase, “innocent until proven guilty,” is carefully fitted in among comments for legal protection for the scribes, the initial image of the series of arrests in Zurich in the wee hours of the morning, plus persons pleading guilty, some been indicted, which the extended list has been concealed until further notice.

Because of the 20-year Fifa involvement of our local “Football Father,” Jack Warner, whose name has been publicly given to the world, we, as a nation, are now facing the wrath of those who already brand us as strangers to the truth and fanatics of getting rich in a hurry. Add to that, the universally constant practice of money laundering seems to have existed in this twin-island nation, even if not in the visible manner of the larger countries.

Maybe what we should do ourselves, concerning these allegations aimed in the directions of the Fifa executives, is some self searching with regard to the Caribbean people who have been drawn into the arena of indictment and arrest of both Jack Warner and the current Concacaf president and Fifa vice-president, Jeffrey Webb.

Having been attached to the organisation in a capacity of technical activity, especially involved in the actual game itself at World Cups, the jobs of the stakeholders are of no concern to persons in my capacity as a technocrat. However, my experiences of football in the Caribbean, from as early as the late 1950s to the present, have brought a number of issues which could have been shadows of some of the charges which have been laid by the US authorities.

Let me state here and now that the early days of our football development in T&T and in the Caribbean were controlled by people with impeccable integrity, whom were qualified to handle management of the sport in a most transparent way. Today, I could extend my respect to a number of persons in the region whose contributions can be heralded and even more appreciated, now that we have witnessed the performances of their successors.

Messrs Eric James, Ken Galt, Oscar Harvey, Ernil Paul of T&T, Harold Griffith and Val Mc Comie of Barbados, George Abrahams of Jamaica and Mr McIntyre of Grenada, please take a bow. The sadness which has been brought to us by the two Caribbean representatives must not necessarily be viewed in isolation, if only they have been the servants of Caribbean football and would have been influential wisely or adversely in the management of their decisions and their finances.

It is no secret that incidents of poor administration, inadequate financing and dubious money management have resulted in difficult times for many of the small countries in the region. Sometimes, the local association leaders were the catalyst for their demise, while advice shared between the exposed Concacaf leaders and the locals may have been errors of judgment.

Did the absence of proper administration bring the debilitating factors into focus and disgust? Quite possibly. Today’s dramatic fiasco in the house of Fifa in a general way must take some responsibility for the missteps, simply because more attention was needed from experts financiers, technocrats, and marketing personnel, as these small countries were in the learning process during their thrust towards better football capabilities.

Surely, there are lessons to be learnt by the CFU from this exercise. Mistakes are often some valuable lessons to those who wish to accept them. The desire to use this downfall must be to become more efficient and educate those who are given the responsibility to conduct proper management. Sitting and chastising the offenders will not help. We must look to the sky for a better football future.

[asylumseeker]

THE HOYOS FILE: Racketeering and football: a perfect union?
Pat Hoyos (Barbados Nation).

I was a little surprised to read comments attributed to Randy Harris, president of the Barbados Football Association (BFA), who was speaking to the Nation from his hotel in Switzerland shortly after the arrests of nine FIFA executives, including Jeffrey Webb, the head of the BFA’s parent organisation CONCACAF.

“We were just about getting our image and integrity back intact and then to hear this is devastating.”

I have read that FIFA officials seemed to think that they lived on a different planet, and surely have acted as if they were above the rules of mere mortals like us. Perhaps the BFA bas been able to fully inculcate the culture of denial emanating from the very top of FIFA itself, with Sepp Blatter saying he cannot be held responsible for the wrong doing of underlings.

How else can we explain the shock felt by Harris? Perhaps he did not know of the ongoing investigations into CONCACAF, at least generally, by the now United States Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch when she was a United States attorney based in Brooklyn and had been looking into possible corruption by FIFA officials there long after Jack Warner resigned as CONCACAF president.

FIFA, having shelved a 400-page report damning its, shall we say, MO in awarding the World Cup tournaments to Russia in 2018 and Qatar in 2022, had found no fault in the decisions of those very underlings (better known as FIFA officials to others), and refused to investigate further. It should be noted that Webb was one of only two FIFA top executives who called for the report to be made public.

FIFA’s refusal to even contemplate any fault in its selection process of Qatar as host of the 2022 World Cup was seen as symbolic of the organisation’s high-handed attitude, and led to this comment by a Telegraph columnist:

“Hell will host the 2026 World Cup after a FIFA report found ‘no reason’ to overturn the controversial underworld destination’s successful bid.”(Alan Tyers, London’s Daily Telegraph, May 28)

Here is an extract from the US Justice Department’s news release on the arrests and charges filed last Wednesday, May 27: “A 47-count indictment was unsealed early this morning in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, charging 14 defendants with racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracies, among other offenses, in connection with the defendants’ participation in a 24-year scheme to enrich themselves through the corruption of international soccer.”

It went on to place two names above the others indicted, noting that “Jeffrey Webb and Jack Warner – the current and former presidents of CONCACAF, the continental confederation under FIFA headquartered in the United States – are among the soccer officials charged with racketeering and bribery offences”.

In fact, the organisation seems to be in the forefront of the investigation and its resultant arrests. According to the Justice Department, the racketeering and bribery were associated with “FIFA World Cup qualifiers in the CONCACAF region, the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the CONCACAF Champions League, the jointly organised CONMEBOL/CONCACAF Copa America Centenario, the CONMEBOL Copa Libertadores and the Copa do Brazil, which is organised by the Brazilian national soccer federation”.

Please note: CONCACAF mentioned four times in that one paragraph. Other alleged schemes involve the alleged receipt of bribes and kickbacks related to the selection of the host country for the 2010 World Cup, and also the 2011 FIFA presidential election.

Even if you were stunned, as the whole world was, by the suddenness and depth of the Justice Department’s dawn raid on FIFA, you could not possibly take the view that CONCACAF or any other FIFA body was gradually seeing its reputation restored.

As the FBI’s director James B. Comey said Thursday: “As charged in the indictment, the defendants fostered a culture of corruption and greed...Undisclosed and illegal payments, kickbacks and bribes became a way of doing business at FIFA.”

Both of Warner’s sons involved in the corruption pleaded guilty two years ago, but that news was only released last week. No doubt whatever help they gave the investigators will help reduce the ten-year prison sentences they are contemplating. Warner’s assistant at CONCACAF, Chuck Blazer, whose lavish and unorthodox lifestyle was revealed four years ago in newspaper articles, has also pleaded guilty and no doubt has been assisting the US Justice Department in its enquiries.

With so many hummingbirds making beautiful noise at the same time, I wonder how Warner and Webb will defend themselves against whatever charges they are facing, the specifics of which have not yet been revealed.

But there is no shortage of seemingly credible newspaper accounts of how CONCACAF essentially carried on in the great tradition presumably started by Warner. I have read accounts of actions ascribed to Webb which were not flattering, which is all you can say, but there were quite detailed, and pertain to football tournaments taking place after the departure of Warner from CONCACAF.

We as a country are involved in this mess, along with the other 200-plus members of FIFA. Our hands may be unstained, but the regional and parent organisations have much to answer for. Now, thanks to Lynch, many of its top executives will finally have their day in court to answer a slate of charges often reserved only for the likes of the Mafia.

Racketeering and football, it is charged, formed a perfect union in FIFA.

[asylumseeker]

CONCACAF Executive Committee Selects Sonia Bien-Aime for Voting Position on FIFA Executive Committee
CONCACAF.com

Bien-Aime is the first woman ever to hold a non-female designated voting position on FIFA’s Executive Committee

Miami (July 8, 2015) – The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) announced today that Sonia Bien-Aime, President of the Turks & Caicos Islands Football Association (TCIFA) and a member of the CONCACAF Executive Committee, has been selected to serve in a voting position on FIFA’s Executive Committee. Bien-Aime joins Lydia Nsekera, President of the Burundi Football Association, to become the second woman ever to serve in a voting position on FIFA’s Executive Committee, and the first to be elected to a non-female designated seat. CONCACAF’s Executive Committee voted to appoint Bien-Aime on July 4, 2015 in Vancouver, Canada.

“Sonia has the full confidence of the CONCACAF Executive Committee and we are delighted for her to represent our Confederation on FIFA’s Executive Committee,” said Alfredo Hawit, Acting President of CONCACAF. “Sonia has demonstrated her significant leadership as a member of the CONCACAF Executive Committee, and will bring a diverse and fresh perspective to FIFA on how to promote and advance the game around the world.”

Bien-Aime will represent CONCACAF’s Caribbean Zone as a FIFA Executive Committee member with a full voting rights position. She joins CONCACAF Acting President, Alfredo Hawit, and U.S. Soccer Federation President, Sunil Gulati at the global executive body.

“My selection to the FIFA Executive Committee with full voting rights is a ground-breaking decision by CONCACAF that demonstrates our Confederation’s commitment to be forward-thinking and our ability to make bold, yet reasoned, decisions,” said Bien-Aime. “My goal is to represent the best interest of the Confederation, while contributing to the objectives of FIFA as we all take collective strides to develop and grow the game that we love."

Bien-Aime is one of three women on FIFA's Executive Committee, having been co-opted to the top table of world football at the 63rd FIFA Congress in Mauritius in 2013. Since then, her mandate has been extended on two occasions. Her work on the FIFA Executive Committee has focused primarily on developing women's football internationally.

She currently serves as Deputy Chairwomen of the Organizing Committee for the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup. Additionally, Bien-Aime is a member of the Organizing Committee for the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, and the Committee for Women's Football and the FIFA Women's World Cup.

As a member of CONCACAF’s Executive Committee, Bien-Aime has served on the Gold Cup Committee and Women’s Football Committee. She has been a keen supporter of advancing the Confederation’s initiatives in the grassroots development of women’s football, including the CONCACAF Under-15 Girls' Championship, the successful Let’s Develop Women’s Football Seminar, and the first-ever Women’s Football Day held on May 23, 2015.

A former athlete, Bien-Aime was the captain of the Turks & Caicos Islands Women’s National Football Team. In 2006, she was appointed to the position of General Secretary of TCIFA, and became the first woman elected to an executive post in the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) in 2012.

[asylumseeker]

Sunil Gulati, U.S. Soccer Leader, Misses a Hearing and Draws Ire From Congress
Rebecca R. Ruizjuly (The New York Times).

WASHINGTON — Congress turned its attention to world soccer for several hours Wednesday afternoon as a Senate subcommittee convened a hearing to examine what the United States Soccer Federation had known about widespread corruption within FIFA, the sport’s global governing body.

But one of the senators’ most persistent lines of inquiry was simpler: why had U.S. Soccer’s top official, Sunil Gulati, declined to show up?

“What did U.S. Soccer know?” asked Senator Jerry Moran, Republican of Kansas and the chairman of the subcommittee on consumer protection, who had called the hearing. “What should you have known?”

Daniel Flynn, chief executive and secretary general of U.S. Soccer, answered those questions in place of Mr. Gulati, the president of U.S. Soccer and a top executive in FIFA. Mr. Flynn, who was not under oath, fumbled at times and once paused to consult with an adviser sitting behind him in the hearing room.
   
He repeatedly sought to distance U.S. Soccer from FIFA, painting the national organization as a dissenting member that had lobbied for more transparency in the global body.

“I knew nothing about any corruption,” Mr. Flynn said, though he later added that he had experienced “a level of discomfort” with the way FIFA did business but had not had “cold facts” on which to act.

Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, the ranking Democrat on the subcommittee, said that U.S. Soccer should have acted on its discomfort.

“There had to be either willful ignorance or blatant incompetence,” he said, noting that he hoped U.S. Soccer would conduct an internal inquiry on top of complying with investigations by the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service.

In May, the Justice Department unsealed an indictment against 14 soccer officials and marketing executives on charges including bribery, money laundering and racketeering. That action also revealed that several other soccer executives had pleaded guilty to similar charges and cooperated with the government. Prosecutors have suggested more indictments are likely.

Asked repeatedly why he had been sent to testify rather than Mr. Gulati, who sits on FIFA’s governing executive committee and has long associations with several of the indicted officials, Mr. Flynn said it was at the advice of an outside lawyer, and because he had greater familiarity with U.S. Soccer’s daily operations than Mr. Gulati does.

Staunchly defending his organization’s integrity, Mr. Flynn invoked FIFA’s recent presidential election as an example in which U.S. Soccer had taken a principled stand. Sepp Blatter, the longtime FIFA president, won a majority vote days after his close associates were arrested; in that election, U.S. Soccer supported Mr. Blatter’s challenger, Prince Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan.

“We did so notwithstanding the potential political risks, including the potential impact on our possible bid to host the 2026 Men’s World Cup,” Mr. Flynn said. But he failed to note that U.S. Soccer had supported Mr. Blatter in his previous election, in 2011, in a vote that took place under the cloud of an earlier corruption scandal.

Mr. Blatter, too, was invited to testify on Wednesday by Mr. Moran’s office but declined to appear. He has not been accused of a crime in the current scandal, though investigators have said he is under continued scrutiny. Mr. Blatter’s lawyer, Richard Cullen, did not respond to request for comment on why Mr. Blatter chose not to attend the hearing.

U.S. Soccer is one of the 209 member associations that belong to FIFA, but it is also a leading member of Concacaf, a regional confederation within FIFA that oversees the federations in North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The recent charges brought by the United States centered on criminal activity within Concacaf, which is headquartered in Miami.

On Wednesday, Mr. Flynn lauded Concacaf’s recently proposed reforms, including term limits for executives and public disclosures of their pay, as a sign of change. He called those proposed changes “sweeping” and suggested they would make a strong framework for FIFA to use as it seeks to reinvent itself.

But witnesses and senators alike questioned whether such reforms — many of which have yet to be enacted — were possible before determining how much knowledge the current FIFA leadership had of decades of criminal activity.

Andrew Jennings, an investigative reporter who has made his career exposing corruption in soccer, was chief among them.

“U.S. Soccer had to know,” he said, referring to the accusations of a far-reaching criminal plot.

“Where’s Sunil?” he asked. “He’s the man who takes American values supposedly to FIFA, to Concacaf, and he’s not here to talk about it today.”

And it was not just the soccer leadership that came under criticism. Mr. Blumenthal called current FIFA sponsors, from Coca-Cola to Visa, “enablers” for not suspending their support and demanding dramatic change.

He likened FIFA in its current form to a “Mafia-style crime syndicate,” adding: “My only hesitation in using that term is that it is almost an insult to the Mafia, because the Mafia would never have been so blatant.”

[asylumseeker]

Power, politics, the two-choice equation and why U.S. Soccer sells itself short
By Paul Kennedy (Soccer America).

According to U.S. Soccer's latest Form 990 return, secretary general Dan Flynn was its second highest-paid employee after Jurgen Klinsmann with compensation of $630,459.

He'll be in line for a nice raise after stepping in for his boss, U.S. president Sunil Gulati, to testify at Wednesday's Senate consumer protection subcommittee hearing into the FIFA scandals. For a good part of two hours, Flynn was grilled by senators on the bribery scandals that have ripped FIFA and Concacaf apart. He was asked about what he knew or didn't know and why didn't U.S. Soccer do more to initiate reform.

Three chairs to his left sat Scottish investigative reporter Andrew Jennings, who raised the question, "Where's Sunil?" It was one of many questions Flynn struggled to answer. "He's the man who takes, supposedly, American values to FIFA and Concacaf, and he is not here to talk about it today," noted Jennings.

Flynn, U.S. Soccer's chief executive, said he, not Gulati, was picked to testify because he was more knowledgeable about its day-to-day operations in the event they came up but when asked what U.S Soccer knew about the FIFA scandals, he said, "I knew nothing about any corruption." Nor, he added, could he be expected to know anything about what he termed "private, individual, secret transactions" that took four years and the full resources of U.S. authorities to bring to light.

Was Flynn surprised by the indictments of 14 FIFA officials and sports executives? "I just wasn't involved." Pressed on the issue, he said he experienced "moments of discomfort" during meetings with former Concacaf president Jack Warner and Concacaf general secretary Chuck Blazer. He couldn't state how long he had those moments of discomfort and he had no cold facts to back them. "The discomfort was all in a general feeling," he said.

Jennings' position: "U.S. Soccer had to know that Blazer and his fellow crook Jack Warner from Trinidad, fighting extradition now, with the approval of [FIFA president Sepp] Blatter were looting regional football and evading rightful taxes but they looked the other way. If American soccer leaders had taken action when they should have, Blazer and Warner would have been in jail, Blatter would be seeking asylum in Zimbabwe and the USA would be hosting the 2022 World Cup, not some graveyards in the gulf."

At the heart of the mater, why didn't U.S. Soccer take action? Perhaps speaking in terms the senators could relate to, Flynn said it all came down to votes. "We pride ourselves in our leadership," he said, "but understand at times our limited capacity for reform."

He rattled off the voting totals. U.S. Soccer's direct representation on FIFA consists of one member -- Gulati -- out of 25 on the executive committee. U.S. Soccer is just one of 209 members of FIFA. And it is one of just of 35 voting members of Concacaf, where voting control, Flynn noted, was held in the Caribbean with its 25 votes Warner held in his back pocket for many years.

Flynn said it came down to a "two-choice equation." Within FIFA, the choice was to participate or opt out.

"Find a way to participate," Flynn said, "in a manner consistent with our mission and core values." To participate was to get "a louder voice and seat at the table" in April 2013 when Gulati was elected to replace Blazer on the FIFA executive committee. To opt out, he said, was to risk the "hundreds of millions of dollars, if not billions of dollars" that had been invested in building American soccer over the last 20 years.

(The rub, Flynn didn't mention, is that to participate in the game is to play the game. Gulati beat Mexican Justino Compean, in an 18-17 vote many expected Compean would win. Gulati needed 16 of the 25 Caribbean votes to overcome Compean's bloc support in Central America. The vote was not decided in Gulati's favor until the final vote registered by Anguilla -- a British overseas territory with a population of 13,600 -- breaking the 17-17 tie.)

Within Concacaf, the choices were to get what U.S. Soccer needed and keep quiet or face exclusion.

Flynn said U.S. Soccer needed to host events to grow the game, events like the Gold Cup, which has been held in the United States every year since its inception since 1991, and men's qualifying for the Olympics, which will again be held in the United States in October.

"We had to at times balance that with the potential to opt out," Flynn said of the USA's choices. "I felt with Mr. Blazer we had other things to do that could help build the sport and there was some concern that if I brought it to Mr. Blazer's attention, I may feel some level of discomfort in a different way."

Connecticut senator Richard Blumenthal, who had Flynn in his cross-hairs all afternoon, suggested there was a third choice: "Begin to ask questions. Begin an inquiry. Begin to shine the light. Begin to blow the whistle. Begin essentially holding accountable officials who might be guilty -- and we now know they are -- of wire fraud, conspiracy, money laundering and bribery that directly impacted the quality and integrity of the sport that you are responsible for upholding."

Jennings called U.S. Soccer "gutless" for not speaking out. Blumenthal said U.S. Soccer was guilty of "willful ignorance or blatant incompetence." Whatever it was, it sold short what Flynn has done in his 15 years as secretary general and Gulati in his 30 years working for the federation and everyone else has done to build up the sport in the United States.

By whatever standard you want to pick -- television revenues, fan support, FIFA sponsors, stadiums, infrastructure and, yes, results on the field -- American soccer is a powerhouse that shouldn't have to worry that it will be excluded if it speaks out.

[Flex]

No deal done to back Platini
T&T Express

FIFA presidential hopeful Michel Platini has not secured the formal backing of the CONCACAF region, the head of the influential Caribbean Football Union (CFU) said yesterday suggesting the claim was “just politics”.

CONCACAF has 35 votes in February's election to replace outgoing FIFA president Sepp Blatter and while there have been some media reports that the governing body for North and Central America and the Caribbean has backed Platini, CFU president Gordon Derrick told Reuters that is not the case. “I know that no-one has spoken to us collectively, we haven't had a collective meeting, there is no way anybody can have (promised) anything,” said Derrick by telephone from Antigua.

The CFU has 25 of the 35 votes from CONCACAF and was a stronghold of support for Blatter.

Sources close to Platini suggested last week that the Frenchman had secured backing from four of the six confederations but Derrick was sceptical about how much real support had been declared at this stage. “I think it is just politics, people are trying to create an atmosphere. If they can create an atmosphere, a perception, sometimes perception becomes reality and you run with that,” he said.

[Deeks]

(Within Concacaf, the choices were to get what U.S. Soccer needed and keep quiet or face exclusion.

Flynn said U.S. Soccer needed to host events to grow the game, events like the Gold Cup, which has been held in the United States every year since its inception since 1991, and men's qualifying for the Olympics, which will again be held in the United States in October.


So allyuh see why the GC has been held in the US exclusively. All them CFU heads and them have been paid off by the US so that they can keep the GC for "eternity".

[pull stones]

(Within Concacaf, the choices were to get what U.S. Soccer needed and keep quiet or face exclusion.

Flynn said U.S. Soccer needed to host events to grow the game, events like the Gold Cup, which has been held in the United States every year since its inception since 1991, and men's qualifying for the Olympics, which will again be held in the United States in October.


So allyuh see why the GC has been held in the US exclusively. All them CFU heads and them have been paid off by the US so that they can keep the GC for "eternity".

lets face it though, would the gold cup work anywhere else? you see what happens with the concacaf champions league where stadiums near empty except in mexico and the united states. it is my opinion that the same would be true if it were held elsewhere in the region. at least in the united states there are huge migrant populations from each of these nations who would not have to travel very far to support their teams as oppose to traveling abroad.

[Controversial]

(Within Concacaf, the choices were to get what U.S. Soccer needed and keep quiet or face exclusion.

Flynn said U.S. Soccer needed to host events to grow the game, events like the Gold Cup, which has been held in the United States every year since its inception since 1991, and men's qualifying for the Olympics, which will again be held in the United States in October.


So allyuh see why the GC has been held in the US exclusively. All them CFU heads and them have been paid off by the US so that they can keep the GC for "eternity".

lets face it though, would the gold cup work anywhere else? you see what happens with the concacaf champions league where stadiums near empty except in mexico and the united states. it is my opinion that the same would be true if it were held elsewhere in the region. at least in the united states there are huge migrant populations from each of these nations who would not have to travel very far to support their teams as oppose to traveling abroad.

valid points..

[Deeks]

Valid points. But how you all know it would not be success in let's say Costa Rica. We don't know until it happens. We understand the realities of the financial benefits of playing in the US. All the associations get a big payout. That is great for the CFU members. But it comes with caveats. People complain about the tournament being setup for Mex - US final. Also the U.S. could ban people who may have a "criminal" record or just plain don't like them.

[gawd on pitch]

The tournament has to make money. Plain and simple.

The Copa Centenario is going to be an interesting experiment. If it is a success, I guarantee it will be held every four years, as opposed to every 100 years. I think Concacaf and Conmenbol see this tournament as a future opportunity to generate dollars and rival the Euros. Even if the Copa Centenario becomes regular, at the end of the day, it will probably be held in America, or maybe Brazil.

[asylumseeker]

Cochrane Appointed New CFU General Secretary
By Neto Baptiste (Antigua Observer).

Antiguan businessman Neil Cochrane has been appointed General Secretary of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU).

Cochrane’s appointment was made public on Wednesday via a release from the CFU which said the Antiguan comes with a wealth of experience in management having spent the last 13 years at Kennedy’s Club Limited as marketing manage.

In his first interview in the new role, Cochrane said first on his agenda, is transforming the CFU into a more financially viable organisation.

“The majority of the funding for the Caribbean Football Union comes through CONCACAF and at the end of the day, the monies are not necessarily close to what the CFU requires to execute all of its programmes so therefore we have an obligation to do our endeavour best to increase and improve the revenue machinery of the Caribbean Football Union so that the member associations and can be supported stronger,” he said.

Dialogue, Cochrane said, will also be opened with the union’s members as they seek to improve both the level of communication and the quality of the sport at all levels.

“We have to understand and have dialogue with the associations to understand their strengths and their weaknesses and to see how we can improve and enhance their weaknesses and further develop their strengths so that when they have their leagues in St Lucia or in Guadeloupe or in Haiti that they are all of a particular standard,” he said.

“We have to make sure they are all tapping into as many resources as possible to fund the various programmes that they have so it is about getting to the member associations and really understanding their needs,” he added.

Cochrane replaces Anguillia’s Damien Hughes who had announced his intentions to leave the position since 2014.

Some operations related to the daily functioning of the CFU, Cochrane revealed, will be moved to Antigua.

“There will be some reduction in staff in Jamaica and the size in the current facility that we rent. And then there will be the establishment of an office here in Antigua with some support staff and in particular the media; the PR machinery will be placed in Antigua,” he said.

Cochrane has served in executive positions on several sporting organisations, primarily football, horse racing and volleyball.

He was also chairman of the then Carnival Development Committee tasked with producing the country’s annual carnival, and is a partner in the promotions company, DSC Promotions.

[asylumseeker]

CFU officially replaces Watson
By Kevin Morales (Cayman 27.com).



The Caribbean Football Union (CFU) announced Tuesday (26 August) that it has formally replaced Caymanian Canover Watson on its Executive Committee.

The moves comes nearly one year after the former CFU Fourth Vice President and former FIFA Audit and Compliance Committee member was arrested on money laundering charges.

A press release sent from the CFU reads that the Caribbean’s football governing body recently ratified Puerto Rico’s Eric Labrador to fill Watson’s role. The move was made during a recent meeting of the Executive.

Watson was arrested in September 2014 and promptly suspended from his role at FIFA.

Also at the meeting, Curacao’s Rignaal Francisca was ratified as CFU Second Vice-President.

The CFU also announced Antigua and Barbuda’s Neil Cochrane was named General Secretary.

Cayman now has no representation on the CFU Executive.

   

[dreamer]

Good. Very good.
Caymanians crooked up to dey nosehole.
Sad news is the Antiguans are prone to be similar with the same Offshore Bank Mafia culture.
Good luck!

[asylumseeker]

Cayman Gov’t halts funding to local football association as police probe begins
Jamaica Observer

GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands (CMC) – The Government here has suspended funding to the Cayman Islands Football Association (CIFA) after the organisation refused to accept the nomination of two new members to its executive committee.

Renard Moxam and Sharon Roulstone were told their nomination papers were not in order and CIFA re-elected Bruce Blake as its vice-president, in its recent elections.

Blake will continue as acting CIFA president since former president Jeffrey Webb, also the former CONCACAF president and FIFA vice president, is facing trial in the United States on a series of corruption related charges.

“In the light of all that has happened in the recent past with FIFA, CONCACAF and by extension CIFA, one would have thought we could have gotten past this to allow some possible changes,” Sports Minister Osbourne Bodden said in a statement.

“As a Government we have therefore decided that regrettably we cannot financially support CIFA any further under the current circumstances”.

Meantime, the country’s Anti-Corruption Commission has confirmed that a police investigation has been launched into CIFA.

The probe appears to be linked to corruption in the sport with the local media reporting that CIFA’s auditors had reported “suspicious transactions” to the authority.

“The Anti-Corruption Commission can confirm that a matter involving the Cayman Islands Football Association (CIFA) has been brought to the Commission’s attention,” a spokesman for the body has been quoted as saying.

“This matter is being reviewed and no further information will be released at this time”.

[asylumseeker]

US Court allows Webb to return to Georgia home
By Paul Nicholson (InsideWorldFootball).



Former FIFA vice-president and CONCACAF president Jeffrey Webb has had his bail conditions altered allowing him to return to his US home in Loganville, Georgia. Webb had been restricted to living within 20 miles of the Brooklyn, New York, courthouse where the case against him is being heard.

Webb is accused of soliciting bribes in exchange for marketing rights for Caribbean and CONCACAF tournaments.

The application made to the US federal court by Webb's legal team claimed that the costs of living in New York City were proving unaffordable.

"This financial burden is worsened by the fact that nearly the entirety of Mr. and Mrs. Webb's cash savings is maintained in bank accounts that are encumbered as a result of the indictment and forfeiture allegations in this case," the application stated.

US court records allege that part of the money Webb received in bribe payments was used to pay for a swimming pool at the Loganville address.

US District Court Judge Raymond Dearie ruled that Webb could live in his Georgia home, assuming he would be able make it to court in New York for the relevant dates and that his other release conditions of electronic monitoring, home detention, a 24-hour security detail and two additional sureties to the government were met.

Webb is currently on bail having posted $10 million in property and luxury goods.

At his most recent court hearing in August assistant US Attorney Evan Norris told the court that materials had begun to be turned over to Webb's legal team and that the case was proceeding. Norris told the judge that he's hopeful the talks will result in more defendants appearing in court to face racketeering and other charges.

It appears the change in bail conditions were not challenged by the US prosecutors which in turn suggests that Webb's co-operation is being viewed positively by the US authorities.

His hearing is currently scheduled for October 9.

[asylumseeker]

Webb heads to Georgia for cheaper house arrest
Cayman News



(CNS): A New York judge has granted permission for Cayman’s Jeffrey Webb to move his house arrest to his home in Atlanta, Georgia. The former FIFA vice president and CONCACAF president had applied for a change in his $10 million bail conditions so he could live at his house in Loganville, as he said he could not afford to live in the area close to the Brooklyn courthouse in New York where the FIFA corruption case, in which he has been indicted, is being heard.

Webb (50) is accused of taking millions of dollars in bribes regarding marketing and broadcasting rights for CONCACAF tournaments. Having agreed to extradition from Switzerland, where he was arrested and jailed in May, Webb was bailed when he arrived in New York after stumping up some $10 million in luxury goods, including high-end cars, Rolex watches and his wife’s diamonds.

With his assets frozen and no job, Webb was finding the cost of living and covering the cost of security for his house arrest increasingly difficult and asked to move to Georgia and to the home where, according to the indictment against him, some of the cash he is alleged to have gained via the alleged bribery was supposedly spent on a swimming pool.

In a letter to the court last month, Webb’s attorneys stated, “This financial burden is worsened by the fact that nearly the entirety of Mr and Mrs Webb’s cash savings is maintained in bank accounts that are encumbered as a result of the indictment and forfeiture allegations in this case.”

The judge hearing the case, Raymond Dearie, ruled that Webb could live in George as long as he made it to court in New York when required and he remained on home detention with an electronic tag and 24-hour security.

Webb is next due in court on 9 October. Next Monday US Attorney General Loretta Lynch and her Swiss counterpart, Michael Lauber, will be holding a press conference in Zürich to update the media on the ongoing FIFA probes.

[asylumseeker]

BVIFA To Host CONCACAF D License
Caribbean Football Union

The British Virgin Islands Football Association (BVIFA) will host a Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) “D” License Certification Course for Coaches from Thursday 17 to 20 September, 2015 at the BVIFA Head Office and at Capoons Bay.

The course will be conducted by CONCACAF’s Jonathon Martinez, Vin Blaine and Marcos Santillan and will cover a wide range of areas, including Principles of Coaching, Training by Age, Fundamentals of Planning a Training Session, Physical Training, Health and Security, the Development of Community Clubs, as well as other elements related to coaching Youth Football.

CONCACAF launched its first “D” License coaching course in 2013, serving to reinforce the governing body's vision and commitment to education, so that the standard of the game can be raised throughout the region.
The new licensing system designed and executed by CONCACAF’s Development Office and funded by the Confederation as part of its on-going commitment to the growth of the sport, will provide coaches from across the region with a valuable, internationally recognized license, as well as the tools to impart that knowledge at the local level.

Sixteen participants have been confirmed, with an additional four awaiting confirmation, for the four-day course. Certification is dependent upon passing an examination given at the end of the session.

The 16 participants are Thomas Albert; Glen Bascombe; Brendan Boult; Jevon Carty; Jeffrey Demming; Kevin Fisher; Gavin Foster; Lenroy Henry; Charlie Jackson; Gregory James; Rohan Lennon; Richie Morton; Wendoll Nichols; Anreco Ramsay; Vivian Roach; and Timon Robinson.

[asylumseeker]

Dominican Republic physical education teachers, from various regions across the country, are currently participating in a weeklong training course under the auspices of the Dominican federation and the National Institute of Physical Education. The course is being led by José David Turcios, a FIFA instructor and is focused on equipping teachers with the necessary methodology to grow the game in the school environment.