Closing the gap - Insiders welcome new format for top regional club competition
Published:Wednesday | February 10, 2021 | 3:29 AM
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Jamaica Football Federation technical committee chairperson Rudolph Speid says the expansion of the Concacaf Champions League (CCL) format will give local clubs the opportunity to close the quality gap between the top leagues in the region....
Jamaica Football Federation technical committee chairperson Rudolph Speid says the expansion of the Concacaf Champions League (CCL) format will give local clubs the opportunity to close the quality gap between the top leagues in the region.
Concacaf announced on February 4 the new competition format for the annual regional club competition, which will be launched during the 2023-24 season. The tournament will now have a regionalised group stage that will feature 20 clubs from Canada, Mexico and the United States as well as 20 from Central America and 10 from the Caribbean.
Speid says that he is impressed with the direction that Concacaf is taking and believes that the expansion will offer local teams a chance to consistently improve and create more opportunities for local players to gain overseas contracts.
“What this administration is doing now is to make sure that there is a chance for every single team that has any semblance of quality, to showcase themselves first in a Caribbean League and also in the Concacaf Champions League,” Speid told The Gleaner. “If you are going to be reducing the gap between a country like Jamaica and a country like Mexico, we have to see them often, at the club level, the youth level and at the national level.”
A Caribbean team is now guaranteed a place in the CCL knockout round. According to the current structure, one team from the Caribbean qualifies for the tournament via the Caribbean Club Championship. Under the new format, the 10 teams that will play in the group stage will be determined by their domestic results and a new Caribbean Club competition.
MORE OPPORTUNITIES
While details of the allotment of places from the group format have not been confirmed, Speid hopes that the new changes will include an additional place for Jamaica in order for more opportunities for players to be scouted and pursued by overseas teams.
“It would mean that maybe that Jamaica gets a third team to be able to expose those young players. Once we are exposed, I can only see clubs coming in for more Jamaican players,” Speid said.
Meanwhile, Harbour View Chairman Carvel Stewart said that there is a possibility that Concacaf would award the island more spots, fulfilling a long-time request. However, he anticipates that additional financial support will be required for clubs to be better prepared to compete in the new format.
“I would expect that clubs would have to find a way of increasing their support outside of the support given by Concacaf. The difficulty we’ve had is that we have not had the same interest in those competitions, as we’ve had in the local competitions,” Stewart said. “There might be a major dependence on sponsorship for participation in a competition of that type.”
Concacaf President Victor Montagliani in a release said that the new structure will be crucial for the overall development of the game in the region.
“This is a hugely important development for Concacaf and for club football in our region. The Concacaf Champions League has grown impressively in recent years but this new format will transform the competition and significantly increase its relevance throughout our confederation and globally,” Montagliani said.