| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Karl |
Posted - Oct 06 2004 : 11:41:57 PM
published: Wednesday | October 6, 2004
- Carlington Wilmot/Freelance Photographer
Under the watchful eyes of Digicel's CEO Raoul Fontanez (right), national midfielder Keith Kelly does the draw for Group A, the one Jamaica will host in the Digicel Caribbean Cup, at the competition's preliminary round kick-off at the National Stadium yesterday.
Audley Boyd, Assistant Sport Editor
DIGICEL, THE newest sponsor of regional football, staged its official kick-off of the Digicel Caribbean Cup by announcing the first 30 preliminary round games with much imagination and innovation at the National Stadium yesterday.
First there was the setting, a tent pitched in the middle of the National Stadium's ballpark, with several air-conditioned units firing away to counter the midday sun.
There were mock football fields on the outside of the tent, inside it and on the stage where the actual kick-off took place. And upon entering the grandstand, male and female ushers, completely decked out in gear representative of the participating teams and as polite as could be, pointed the way to the meeting area - the tent.
Keith Kelly, a midfielder recently called back into the national fold was given the privilege of launching the preliminary competition. It was probably the easiest opportunity he had to kick a ball into a goal - one assembled on the stage marshalled by referee-suited emcee Simon Croskill. However, when the ball hit the back of the net, a net of confetti fell from above and trapped him like an animal.
SURPRISE DISCLOSURE
There were not many more unusual moments, except the surprise disclosure that the Bahamas and Dominican Republic were forced to withdraw from Group C qualifying due to damage from recent hurricanes, thus presenting hosts Cuba with a bye past the first-round group stage.
It limited the contests in that phase to 30, which will be hosted by five countries - Jamaica (Group A), Martinique (Group B), Trinidad and Tobago (Group D), Cayman Islands (Group E) and St. Kitts and Nevis (Group F). All matches in the segment are set to begin on November 24.
KNOCKOUT SERIES
There are four teams in each group and the top two will progress to the second stage, a home-and-away knockout series that is scheduled for January 14 and 21.
Haiti, the US Virgin Islands and St. Martin are the other teams in Jamaica's group while the remaining contenders are as follows:
Group B - Martinique Guadeloupe, French Guyana, Dominica;
Group D - Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, Puerto Rico, Grenada;
Group E - Cayman Islands, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands;
Group F - St. Kitts and Nevis, Antigua-Barbuda, Montserrat, St. Lucia.
BARBADOS ALREADY QUALIFIED
The winner of the home-and-away series will advance to the final round in Barbados in April next year. Barbados, as hosts, have already qualified.
Responding to a query as to how the other qualifier for that home-and-away series will be decided, Captain Horace Burrell, in his role as Caribbean Football Union (CFU) vice-president, explained: "This is something that just happened suddenly. The executive committee will look at it.
"I'm now leaving for Switzerland and will be meeting with Jack (Austin) Warner tomorrow," Burrell added in reference to the CFU and CONCACAF president, who is also a FIFA vice president.
"I'm sure he'll make some announcement about it soon."
He also said Warner, who through FIFA commitments was not present at the kick-off, said "this is going to be the biggest endeavour ever" |
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