BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - PRESIDENT of the Confederation of North, Central America and the Caribbean Association of Football (CONCACAF) Victor Montagliani, would like to see more invested in infrastructural development.
As the new President of CONCACAF, Montagliani was asked about his plans for the development of those nations coming under the Caribbean Football Union banner and he spoke of “the facilitation of investment in infrastructure as much as we can”.
He also spoke of providing opportunities for footballers to play on a consistent basis, a situation which has plagued the smaller islands, such as St. Kitts and Nevis and Antigua, among others in the CFU zone of CONCACAF.
“Providing opportunities for coaches to coach on a more consistent basis. We launched over, within the last sixty days, two centers of excellence in Mexico...both of those centers were populated by 75% people from the Caribbean.
“The technical director of St. Kitts and Nevis was at the center of excellence and the feedback was excellent. Those are things that we are investing in. It is not just about infrastructure; we are also investing in the human capital of the region.”
The president believes that by investing in people, the game of football would grow in the Caribbean, and by extension the CONCACAF region.
Speaking of the proposed World Cup Qualification changes, where FIFA is mulling to have more teams at the 2026 tournament, Montagliani told reporters that it means that the spots allocated to the region would change - but they are not yet aware of what the dynamics would be.
“We are obviously going to increase our spots. We don’t know what they are yet, but we would find out soon. That gives an opportunity to other nations to sort of dream to qualify for a world cup.
“But, you have to remember a world cup means something different to everybody; everybody would always have the dream to get to a world cup… (For) some countries, it's just a dream to get to a certain round; for some countries it’s a dream to score a goal in a world cup qualifier. So the word cup means a little different thing to everybody… I think a country like St. Kitts and Nevis actually with the talent they have...you have a realistic opportunity [and] if you plan properly, that might not happen obviously in 2018 or 2022. But if you look at it for 2026 with the expanded format, all things are possible.”
The President recently toured St. Kitts during a stop-over where he was taken to the Football House, among other sites.
He also held meetings with a number of government officials on their involvement in pushing the sport.
