CONCACAF logo. Photo courtesy of CONCACAF’s official Facebook.
The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) held elections for CONCACAF and FIFA Councils positions at their XXXII Ordinary Congress on Saturday, April 8. The members also discussed the latest news about ONE CONCACAF Vision and the achievements made in each of the Confederation’s divisions, such as a review of the organization’s strategic plans and the 2017 financial budget.
Rodolfo Villalobos of Costa Rica and Decio De Maria of Mexico were voted onto the CONCACAF Council as Vice Presidents. Carlos Cordeiro of the United States, Jorge Rajo of El Salvador, and Maurice Victoire of Martinique were elected as members Sunil Gulato of the United States was elected once more to the FIFA Council.
“Our ONE CONCACAF Vision continues its journey to drive football growth. Across the Confederation, we are building greater accountability, transparency and governance,” said CONCACAF President Victor Montagliani. “2016 was a year of transition, we made solid progress on many fronts, including beginning the implementation of our vision and strengthening the partnership with each Member Association to transform our game, while broadening the opportunities for our youth, players, coaches, referres, and administrators.”
During the Congress, Montagliani stressed the need to bring the World Cup back to CONCACAF in 2026. Congress immediately showed support for this proposition.
Montagliani also declared the creation of a Players Ambassador Program dedicated to helping CONCACAF develop football. He introduced former players, Ricardo Gardner of Jamaica, Karina LeBlanc of Canada, and Jason Roberts of Grenada as members of the program.
The meeting went on to review the progress made in terms of football operations, commercial, finance and administration, and legal and compliance. A strategic road map to accomplishing the Confederation’s mission on furthering the game was presented to the group.
The budget was discussed in the form of a report after the governance and transparency measures in 2016-2017.
Prime Minister of Aruba, The Right Honorable Michiel Godfried Eman and Minister of Public Health, Elderly Care and Sports in Aruba, The Honorable Dr. Carlos Alex Schwengle, FIFA President Gianni Infantino, CONMEBOL President Alejandro Dominguez, and AFC Advisor to the President David Borja were all in attendance.
