Caribbean Football Union

Caribbean Football Union
The CFU emblem
Abbreviation CFU
Formation 28 January 1978 (1978-01-28)
Type Sports organisation
Headquarters Jamaica
Membership
31 Member Associations
Secretary General
 Neil Cochrane
President
 Randy Harris
Website http://www.cfufootball.org

The Caribbean Football Union (CFU) is the nominal governing body for association football in the Caribbean as well as Bermuda, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana. It represents 25 FIFA member nations, as well as 6 territories that are not affiliated to FIFA. The Union was established in January 1978 and its Member Associations compete in the CONCACAF region.

CFU also runs the CFU Club Championship, a competition to determine the Caribbean club representatives to the CONCACAF Champions League.

The union made international headlines in 2011 when it was revealed that Mohammed bin Hammam, a candidate for the FIFA Presidency, had offered US$40,000 to each national association representative present at a CFU meeting on 10 May 2011. Several had accepted the offer. CFU president Jack Warner was to be investigated by FIFA, but upon his resignation the investigation was terminated. The resignation resulted in several of the most influential members of the CFU being suspended from football and delays of the CFU congress.[1]

Union members

Current members

Nation Association National team Year joined CFU [2] FIFA status Island group Geographical region
 Anguilla Anguilla Football Association Anguilla 1996 Member Leeward Islands
 Antigua and Barbuda Antigua and Barbuda Football Association Antigua and Barbuda 1978 Member Leeward Islands
 Aruba Arubaanse Voetbal Bond Aruba 1988 Member Leeward Antilles
 Bahamas Bahamas Football Association Bahamas 1978 Member Lucayan Archipelago
 Barbados Barbados Football Association Barbados 1978 Member Windward Islands
 Bermuda Bermuda Football Association Bermuda 1978 Member North America
 Bonaire Bonaire Football Federation Bonaire 2013 Non-member Leeward Antilles
 British Virgin Islands British Virgin Islands Football Association British Virgin Islands 1996 Member Leeward Islands
 Cayman Islands Cayman Islands Football Association Cayman Islands 1992 Member Greater Antilles
 Cuba Asociación de Fútbol de Cuba Cuba 1978 Member Greater Antilles
 Curaçao Curaçao Football Federation Curaçao 1978 Member Leeward Antilles
 Dominica Dominica Football Association Dominica 1994 Member Windward Islands
 Dominican Republic Dominican Football Federation Dominican Republic 1978 Member Greater Antilles
 French Guiana Ligue de Football de Guyane French Guiana 1978 Non-member South America
 Grenada Grenada Football Association Grenada 1978 Member Windward Islands
 Guadeloupe Ligue Guadeloupéenne de Football Guadeloupe 1978 Non-member Leeward Islands
 Guyana Guyana Football Federation Guyana 1978 Member South America
 Haiti Haitian Football Federation Haiti 1978 Member Greater Antilles
 Jamaica Jamaica Football Federation Jamaica 1978 Member Greater Antilles
 Martinique Ligue de football de la Martinique Martinique 1978 Non-member Windward Islands
 Montserrat Montserrat Football Association Montserrat 1996 Member Leeward Islands
 Puerto Rico Puerto Rican Football Federation Puerto Rico 1978 Member Greater Antilles
 Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Kitts and Nevis Football Association Saint Kitts and Nevis 1992 Member Leeward Islands
 Saint Lucia Saint Lucia Football Association Saint Lucia 1988 Member Windward Islands
 Saint Martin Comité de Football des Îles du Nord Saint Martin Non-member Leeward Islands
 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Football Federation Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 1988 Member Windward Islands
 Sint Maarten Sint Maarten Soccer Association Sint Maarten Non-member Leeward Islands
 Suriname Surinaamse Voetbal Bond Suriname 1978 Member South America
 Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation Trinidad and Tobago 1978 Member Windward Islands
 Turks and Caicos Islands Turks and Caicos Islands Football Association Turks and Caicos Islands 1998 Member Lucayan Archipelago
 United States Virgin Islands U.S. Virgin Islands Soccer Federation United States Virgin Islands 1998 Member Leeward Islands

Potential future members

Saint-Barthélemy became an overseas collectivity of France in February 2007, the same political status as Saint Martin.

Following the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles in 2010, the public bodies of Saba and Sint Eustatius could become eligible to compete as separate entities within the Caribbean Football Union. Bonaire, which also has this political status, became a CFU member (and CONCACAF associate member) in April 2013. Each of these areas is an integral part of the Netherlands.

The islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon are in the North American region, like Bermuda (a CFU member), and are currently not affiliated to either FIFA or CONCACAF. However, the French overseas collectivity has the same political status as French Polynesia, who play in the Oceania Football Confederation as Tahiti and competed with Saint Pierre at the 2010 and 2012 Coupes de l'Outre-Mer. As such, it would appear that Saint Pierre is not precluded from joining CONCACAF and potentially, like Bermuda, the Caribbean Football Union.

Competitions

The Caribbean Football Union holds two cups:

The CFU Championship was a tournament for national teams in the region active between 1978 and 1988. It was sometimes referred to as the CFU Nations Cup. The Caribbean Cup is the current international cup for the Caribbean: the top 4 teams in the tournament qualify for the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

The CFU Club Championship is the championship for Caribbean club teams. The winner qualified for the CONCACAF Champions' Cup from 1997 and until 2008, and from 2008-09 until 2016-17, the top 3 clubs qualified for a preliminary round of the CONCACAF Champions League. Since 2017, the winner of the rebranded Caribbean Club Championship qualifies for the knockout stage of the CONCACAF Champions League, while second, third, and the winner of a play-off between fourth place and the winner of the second-tier Caribbean Club Shield qualify for the CONCACAF League.

Previously the CFU had organised a pan-Caribbean league, the Caribbean Professional Football League, it was active between 1992 and 1994.

CompetitionHoldersCurrent event
Caribbean Cup Curaçao2017
CFU Men's U-23 Tournament Haiti2015
CFU Men's U-20 Tournament Haiti2016
CFU Men's U-17 Tournament Haiti2016
CFU Futsal Cuba2016
CFU Club ChampionshipDominican Republic Cibao2017
CFU Women's Caribbean Cup Trinidad and Tobago2018
CFU Women's Olympic Qualifying Trinidad and Tobago2015
CFU Women's U-20 Jamaica2017
UNCAF Women's U-17 Haiti2017

Representative team

A Caribbean national team has played several exhibition fixtures. In 1987 a Caribbean XI entertained Brazilian São Paulo FC and a year later a 'Caribbean Selection' played against the national team of Trinidad and Tobago. Since the formation of the CFU, games have typically taken place in Port-of-Spain.

Caribbean0-2Brazil São Paulo FC
(Report) Netto  72', Pita  76'
Attendance: 30,000
Referee: Albert Allman
Caribbean0–2 Trinidad and Tobago
(Report) Jones  73', 87'
Caribbean2–2England Crystal Palace F.C.
Lewis
Elliot-Allen		 (Report) Wright

In August 1993, CFU President Jack Warner ruled out the possibility of merging the Caribbean nations into one national football team, similar to the West Indies cricket team. He said: "There seems to be some myth outside there that a Caribbean team is the answer to football in the region. I have never heard anything so ludicrous," said Warner, "If to reach a [FIFA] World Cup have to be considered by size, why haven't China ever made it. The simple fact is, we must take whatever seems to be our liabilities and make them our assets. Being small is never a liability in this sport".[3]

History

The formation of the Caribbean Football Union is credited to former Trinidad and Tobago national footballer Patrick Raymond. In 1976, he approached Phil Woosnam, the Commissioner of the North American Soccer League (NASL), about ownership of a Caribbean franchise within the NASL, and instead, Woosnam proposed the formation of a Caribbean Professional League. Acting on Woosnam advise, and with assistance from former England player-turned businessman Jimmy Hill and his company World Sports Academy, plus the recommendation of former FIFA President Sir Stanley Rous, that a Caribbean regional governing body as a sub-group within CONCACAF be the first order of business, Raymond introduced the initiative in August 1977 in Port of Spain, Trinidad, that eventually led to the formation of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU). The CFU was inaugurated on January 28, 1978, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, as the Caribbean region's governing football body and a sub-group within CONCACAF.

A previous effort to establish a Caribbean regional governing body was the British Caribbean Football Association (BCFA) in January 1957, with the Trinidad & Tobago FA's President Ken Galt as the BCFA's President, and the TTFA's Secretary Eric James as General Secretary, and in 1959, a representative BCFA team toured the UK.

In May 2013, under the direction of Damien E. Hughes, the CFU relocated their offices from Port-of-Spain, Trinidad to Kingston, Jamaica.[4] In August 2015, Hughes was replaced by Antiguan Neil Cochrane. Cochrane announced that several jobs would be moved from Jamaica to Antigua and a smaller headquarters would be rented.[5]

Presidents

There have been three presidents (and two acting presidents) of the CFU since its foundation:

  1. ↑ Austin was suspended from his position after four days for attempting to overrule FIFA in the Barbadian civil court

General secretaries

There have been seven general secretaries of the CFU since its foundation:

  • Trinidad and Tobago Jack Warner (1978–82)
  • Trinidad and Tobago Ivan Barrow (1983–93)
  • Trinidad and Tobago Harold Taylor (1993–2005)
  • Trinidad and Tobago Kerry-Ann Alleyne (2006)
  • Trinidad and Tobago Angenie Kanhai (2007-2011)
  • Anguilla Damien Hughes (2012–2015)
  • Antigua and Barbuda Neil Cochrane (2015–)

Staff

Members of CFU (orange), members of CONCACAF (orange and camel).

As of 23 July 2016[6]

President Gordon Derrick (Antigua and Barbuda)
First Vice President Cheney Joseph (Grenada)
Second Vice President Rignaal Francisca (Curaçao)
Third Vice President Lyndon Cooper (Saint Lucia)
Fourth Vice President Richard Dijkhoff (Aruba)
Executive Committee Members Bruce Blake (Cayman Islands)
Randolph Harris (Barbados)
Jeaninne Wong Loi Sing (Bonaire)

Corruption scandal

The union was embroiled in a scandal in May 2011 after several representatives of Caribbean Football Associations had been given brown paper envelopes containing US$40,000. The incident was reported to the CONCACAF general secretary Chuck Blazer. The next day, footage from a private meeting between CFU officials was leaked to the public. This footage showed President Jack Warner informing the delegates who had received envelopes that the funds within were for their personal use, stating,"If you're pious, you should go to church."[7] An investigation initiated by FIFA examined the actions of over 30 CFU representatives and resulted in the resignation of the CFU president, the suspension of the organization's vice-presidents and staff, and the resignation of several national football association staff.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-01-24. Retrieved 2012-03-02.
  2. ↑ User, Super. "Member Associations - Member Associations". www.cfufootball.org.
  3. ↑ "Warner Rejects Idea Of Pan-Caribbean Team". Jamaica Gleaner. 4 August 1993.
  4. ↑ Walker, Howard (27 May 2013). "Latoya DaCosta seeks to take CFU to next level". Jamaica Observer. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
  5. ↑ Baptiste, Neto (27 August 2015). "Cochrane Appointed New CFU General Secretary". Antigua Observer. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
  6. ↑ Admin, CFU Web. "Gordon Derrick elected CFU President for a Second Consecutive Term - Caribbean Cup". www.cfufootball.org.
  7. ↑ "Exclusive video: Jack Warner's address to Caribbean Fifa delegates". Daily Telegraph. 12 October 2011. Retrieved 2 March 2012.
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