Concacaf boss praises regional development

CONCACAF PRESIDENT Victor Montagliani has praised the various football federations in the region for their work done in overseeing the development and the competitiveness of the sport of football over the past few years.

Montagliani was speaking at a Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) press conference yesterday at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel.

He was speaking on a panel which included JFF president, Michael Ricketts; JFF General Secretary, Dennis Chung; Bermuda Football Association president Mark Wade; and St Lucia Football Association president, Lyndon Cooper.

“Our confederation has come a long way, and it is really a testament to the work done by the federations. As you know, our confederation is only as good as the sum of its whole – the sum of our 41 federations and of the presidents. We have three of them here, and we have another 38 out there. They have done a tremendous amount of work,” he stated.

Montagliani was first elected president of CONCACAF in 2016 before being unanimously re-elected to the role last year.

He said since his appointment eight years ago, the confederation and its various federations have seen tremendous growth.

POSITIVE IMPACT

He said this growth has not only positively impacted the teams’ competitiveness on the pitch, but also the federations’ operations and facilities across the region.

“We’ve done a tremendous amount of work, and I’ve said this many times about CONCACAF. When we first walked into the door eight years ago as this administration and a lot of the presidents that are now around, we were financially bankrupt, football bankrupt, we played no real football or meaningful football, and morally bankrupt,” he explained.

“This confederation is not just the president of CONCACAF or the people that work in Jamaica, or the people that work in Miami, or the people that work in Guatemala. The kudos go to our staff and the tremendous work they do on a day-to-day basis in every facet of the organisation.”

He added. “In the end, we can’t do any of that growing without the 41 member associations also growing with us.”

Montagliani pointed to the development in the facilities across the region as proof of the growth seen by the confederation.

He said that in the past, only a few countries had the ability to host youth and senior CONCACAF games and competitions.

Now, several member associations have grown to where they are not only hosting CONCACAF games, but have also been given hosting privileges for international FIFA competitions.

The 2024 FIFA Women’s U-17 World Cup is currently under way in the Dominican Republic, a major milestone for the nation and the confederation.

He said that as these member associations continue to grow, they will raise the standards of the region for other CONCACAF nations to follow and strive towards.

“You’re starting to see a lot of other nations that didn’t have any facilities now having those facilities as well,” he said.

“In those days, only two or three of our member associations were able to host competitions like the Under-17 Championships.”

He continued: “The good thing about that is that we can go anywhere now, and the truth is, it pushes you to build your standards. Before, if you were the only one in town, then you had no incentive to really push the status to the top level. Now you almost have to because if you don’t, then you won’t even get looked at in the process.”