The Caribbean Football Union’s (CFU) Under-17 Championship, which was originally scheduled to kick off today, in Haiti, has been delayed at least for a further three weeks.
The T&T Football Association (TTFA) received a notice of a change in dates on Sunday. In its notice, the CFU said the U-17 tournament has been rescheduled to October 17-26, adding, “We (CFU) are still awaiting information from the host regarding accommodation, game time, etc. We will forward all outstanding information including fixtures once we receive all outstanding from the host (Haiti).”
The Trinidad Guardian contacted the CFU via e-mail to query the cause for the delay.
CFU acting general secretary Damien Hughes later responded saying he was unaware of any postponement to the tournament, suggesting that the tournament was always scheduled to play in mid-October.
“The only information that I am aware that has been slow in getting to Participating Member Associations is information from the Host Country related to host hotels, practice fields, etc,” he said.
Up to press time last evening, Concacaf’s website maintained that the final round of qualifiers (the CFU U-17 Championship) were to begin tonight in Haiti, while the CFU website gave no notice as to the original start date nor the rescheduled date of the competition.
Meanwhile, T&T’s U-17 footballers came out of their live-in camp on Sunday after three days. According to team manager, Chistopher Govia, the technical staff will use the opportunity to keep an eye on the national players and their form while they participate in the ongoing Secondary Schools Football League.
The final squad has not yet been named and there is still an opportunity for head coach Shawn Cooper to make changes from the team that spent the weekend in camp. Last weekend’s camp was scheduled to fall a week before the start of the CFU U-17 Championships, but Govia said with the postponement of the competition, there is no guarantee of another live-in camp closer to the actual date of the tournament, due to the ongoing funding issues.
The CFU U-17 tournament serves as qualifiers for the 2015 Concacaf U-17 Championship, which runs from February 27- March 14, in Honduras. Five Caribbean teams will advance to the Concacaf tournament. If the latest fixtures are final, T&T will meet Barbados in the first double-header match on October 19. T&T will face Haiti two days later then St Lucia in the third Group A fixture, on October 23.
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T&T, St Lucia meet in CFU U-17 opener
T&T Guardian Reports.
T&T’s Men’s Under-17 footballers will kick off their quest for a spot in Concacaf and ultimately the 2015 World Cup, when they meet St Lucia on the opening day of the CFU Under-17 Championships, in Haiti, on October 19.
The CFU released the latest revised fixtures on Thursday night, which confirmed that the tournament will run from October 19-26 with all matches being played at Sylvio Cator Stadium in Port-au-Prince. T&T was initially carded to meet Barbados in the opening match, but that fixture will instead take place on October 21, on the second day of Group A action.
T&T will finally meet the host nation, Haiti, in the third group fixture, on October 23. Group B matches will be played on the days following Group A matches, on October 20, 22 and 24. The winner of each group will meet in the final on October 26, after the two runners-up meet in the third-place playoff in the first match of the day’s double-header.
Both finalists and group runners-up will qualify for the Concacaf Championship, which will be held in Honduras from February 27 to March 14.
A total of 12 teams will compete at the Concacaf Championship and will be divided into two groups of six teams each. The winners of each group will advance to the Chammpionship final as well as the 2015 Fifa World Cup.
The second-and third-placed teams from each group will then be re-seeded by group stage results, with the top team of the four facing the fourth-best team, and the second-best finisher facing the third-best. The winners of the two matches will also qualify for the World Cup.