BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - THE national male football team has once again come in for high praise; this time it is from President of the St. Kitts and Nevis Football Association, Anthony Johnson.
This comes after the team attained its highest ranking to date, 92, which was published yesterday (Apr. 7) by FIFA, the world governing body for the sport.
The Coco Cola FIFA Ranking has shown the Sugar Boys moving up 29 spots.
At a simple but significant media briefing at Football House today, Johnson explained that since the formation of the Football Association in 1932, many executive members before him had aspired for the development of the national team.
According to Johnson, it was the vision and objectives of the current executives when they took office in 2009 to have the Federation’s team ranked below 100.
“We would have had an objective of ours. It was to increase the profile of St. Kitts and Nevis football, particularly achieving a ranking that is recognized worldwide.”
Johnson lauded the efforts of not only the players and coaches, but also the SKNFA, sponsors, fans and other stakeholders of the sports discipline.
“When we took office in 2009, our ranking from the International FIFA List was some 153 and we have worked very tirelessly to ensure that our ranking continually move up the ladder. And even though we had a number of challenges during the last seven years, I believe that the battle that we have now achieved that position is a great testimony to the hard work of not only the executives of the St. Kitts-Nevis Football Association, but all of our stakeholders. And so in that regard I want to say congratulations to all of our players, our coaching staff, management and the national men’s team, the football fans, sponsors, the media and the SKNFA...”
With the Sugar Boys breaking new ranks, it now opens new doors where they can challenge teams higher placed on the Coca Cola Ratings table.
Additionally, Johnson disclosed that it provides opportunities for players to obtain professional contracts in the European market.
“If you are ranked as a country below 100, people tend not to want to play against countries that are ranked outside of that bracket. For us, the opportunity now presents itself to attract greater competition.”
General Secretary of the SKNFA, Stanley Jacobs said that this move comes on the heels of significant investments made in the development of football on the local scene.
He pointed to the heavy investment for which the Association had received criticism last year.
The SKNFA had sent the men’s team on a two-match friendly international tour of Europe where they were successful in defeating Andorra but went down to Estonia.
The Andorra victory, Jacobs stressed, assisted in thrusting the Sugar Boys up the rankings, since it is believed that is where the team accumulated most of its points.
Just recently the the Sugar Boys won their two opening round fixtures in the Caribbean Cup to progress to round two, where they are the seeded team.
With regards to their loss against Estonia, the Sugar Boys will be seeking revenge later this year in a return match.
According to President Johnson, that game would be played at Warner Park on November 19.
