Warner wants Digicel Cup on Fifa calendar

The recently concluded 2010 edition of the Digicel Cup is being hailed as one of the most successful editions of the tournament to date and now CFU President Jack Warner is hoping to take the competition to a higher level. Warner intends to lobby Fifa to include the 2011 dates of the regional competition in the annual Fifa calendar. Warner stated: “The football has been truly exciting. The players have become more tactical and technical and have given to us a level of hope that we can raise our game to that of world competitors. The 2010 edition of this competition has truly marked the dawn of a new era in Caribbean football. Our players are developing and we as administrators must continue to pursue strategies which will foster further growth. We must all strive for excellence.”

Warner continued, “It is in this regard that I intend to approach Fifa with a proposal to include the 2011 dates of what has now become the premier football tournament in the region. “I have also heard the numerous complaints of our members over the difficulties they encounter in gaining access to their foreign based players during this competition. If we succeed in our quest to include the tournament in the Fifa calendar, then this challenge would be significantly reduced. “This competition must be used as a device to propel our talent on to the world stage and by allowing our local Federations greater access to their international talent we will ensure that the standard of the competition is lifted. We cannot and must not waste this glorious opportunity afforded to us. But we also must alter the rules of engagement to ensure our players are given the best possible opportunities. Progress lies not in enhancing what is but in advancing to what it could be; and we in the Caribbean will be transforming this competition into one comparable to all other international competitions.”

The president of Concacaf also extended congratulations to the final four teams of the DCC Championship—Jamaica, Guadeloupe, Cuba, and Grenada—on their success in securing the four berths for the Concacaf Gold Cup. He urged the teams to learn and grow from the lessons learned in the tournament, saying that the final four teams of the competition endured nine weeks of gruelling competition. He noted that twenty four teams entered but these four finalists stood taller and stronger than the rest. “No longer will we stand in awe and wonder after others, for in the Digicel Caribbean Cup we can see our beginnings as a football region. No longer will we be intimidated by others because as we play together we grow stronger and become bolder.” The Caribbean Cup serves as a qualifier for the Concacaf Gold Cup with the final four nations automatically qualifying as the Caribbean representatives. The Gold Cup will be played from June 5-25 next year in various venues across the United States.