International News

Stand up! Tim Kee calls for Caribbean unity in CONCACAF

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With the top brass: Trinidad and Tobago Football Association president Raymond Tim Kee, right, and Sepp Blatter, president of FIFA, the governing body controlling world football.

Caribbean football officials are not pleased about being left out of the decision-making process of the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF).

Further, Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) president Raymond Tim Kee, urged his colleagues to “stand up” and assert its power as the most influential group of voters in the regional football body. Tim Kee commented at a press conference held in Trinidad and Tobago on Tuesday.

Tim Kee is particularly perturbed that the Caribbean was left out of the decision-making process when a week ago, CONCACAF’S Executive appointed a Special Committee charged with evaluating and sustaining all of the business operations of the Confederation. This Special Committee was appointed in the wake of the corruption indictments brought against former CONCACAF president Jack Warner and Warner’s replacement Cayman Islands banker Jeffrey Webb.

The Special Committee appointed to run the 41-strong CONCACAF federation consists only of the three North Americans representatives. Appointed were Victor Montagliani, the president of the Canadian Soccer Association, Justino Compean, the president of the Mexican Soccer Federation and Sunil Gulati, the president of US Soccer Federation. The Caribbean has a majority of 28 countries in CONCACAF.

“They have appointed an Emergency Committee to look after the business of CONCACAF until the term comes to an end,” Tim Kee declared. “The thing that stood out for me, is that not one member of the CFU (Caribbean Football Union), who has the largest compliment of votes in CONCACAF, was sitting on that.”

Tim Kee is unaware if there was consultation between the CONCACAF Executive Committee and CFU president Antiguan Gordon Derrick, before recent decisions were made.

Further, Tim Kee hinted that Derrick should have objected had any such consultation taken place. “As to whether there were any objections, it is reasonable to argue there would have been the inclusion of somebody from the Caribbean (as a result). That did not happen, and that may be the style of the president of the CFU (Derrick), who may have opted to take a certain direction.

“But, at the end of the day, I don’t know if that is something we want, and we have to correct that,” the Trinidadian insurance executive and Port of Spain mayor said.

Tim Kee admitted to having spoken to some Caribbean colleagues on the matter.

“I have had conversions with some presidents of the other islands in the CFU about that situation and that is something we should seek to address,” he added.

Tim Kee said that, traditionally, the US and Mexico try to dominate CONCACAF because of financial and political influence, but at the end of the day, Caribbean votes will determine who takes power.

He further said that he expected challenges for the Caribbean, now that Caribbean representatives Warner and Webb are removed from the helm. “Now that both parties are out, and the Caribbean not represented, I suspect there will be some challenges coming to the Caribbean until we stand up and insist that must not happen because we have numbers,” said Tim Kee.

“The thing that carries you in football is numbers, not necessarily money, because numbers are votes,” added Tim Kee. “I can see some turbulence initially, but things will soon smooth out in a real way by (the Caribbean) having a voice on the Executive of CONCACAF,” he ended.


CONCACAF Kicks Off First Under-15 Championship

From left to right: The Minister of Health, Sports, Youth, and Culture, Osbourne V. Bodden, CONCACAF President Jeffrey Webb and General Secretary Enrique Sanz, during a press conference to kick off the CONCACAF Under-15 Championship in Cayman Islands. 

More than half of the forty-one member Confederation descend on Grand Cayman in a strong effort to promote grassroots football at the youth level

GRAND CAYMAN, Cayman Islands – The Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) will kick off the inaugural CONCACAF Under-15 Championship on Tuesday in Grand Cayman. The tournament will be contested through August 25 among the national teams of twenty-three member associations, making it the largest CONCACAF competition of its kind to be played in a single country.

“It is important for coaches and players to have competitions for development,” signaled CONCACAF President Jeffrey Webb.  “This tournament was conceived to intensify our grassroots efforts while helping to identify and develop talent that will eventually create our future stars.”

The inaugural tournament is an initiative of President Webb, recognizing the need for a concentrated effort that would support and grow football at the youth level. The Under-15 Championship, which will be held every two years, is expected to strengthen the love of the game among young players and foster a commitment to the sport that will grow along with them.

In addition to the sporting advantages of introducing players between the ages of 13-15 to a higher-level of football on a regional stage, the Under-15 tournament is bringing nearly 700 participants to the island during the low-season for tourism. For the Cayman Islands, it is a win-win scenario.

“This tournament is a great developmental experience for local football teams and we thank CONCACAF and President Jeffrey Webb for having the foresight to bring this level tournament to fruition and for also selecting the Cayman Islands as the host country for the inaugural event,” expressed Cayman Islands Minister of Sports, the Honourable Osbourne Bodden during a press conference held at the Government Information Office.

Photo2 Feature

The Minister of Health, Sports, Youth, and Culture, Osbourne V. Bodden, receives a pennant of recognition from CONCACAF President Jeffrey Webb in commemoration for hosting the CONCACAF Under-15 Championship in Cayman Islands. 

Countries that will be competing in the tournament include Antigua & Barbuda, Aruba, the Bahamas, Belize, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Curacao, El Salvador, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Puerto Rico, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, Saint Martin, St. Maarten, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Trinidad & Tobago and the US Virgin Islands.

For first-round play, the squads have been drawn into four groups – three of six teams and one comprised of five teams.  Each team will play the others in its group once. The group winners will advance to the semifinals on August 23 at the Truman Bodden Sports Complex.  The match for third place and the final will take place two days later at the same venue.

For more information about this developmental tournament or other CONCACAF initiatives log on to www.concacaf.org

For a full schedule and results of the CONCACAF Under-15 tournament please click here.