CONCACAF pushing ahead with 2026 World Cup bid

By Julian Linden

(Reuters) – Aggrieved at missing out on the chance to host either the 2018 or 2022 World Cups, the governing body for soccer in North and Central America and the Caribbean is adamant it should be given the 2026 tournament.

CONCACAF president Jeffrey Webb said it was only fair that the region should be awarded the 2026 World Cup after losing its place in the queue when the world’s governing body FIFA scrapped its rotational policy after selecting Brazil as the 2014 host.

The subsequent decision by FIFA to award the 2018 tournament to Russia then 2022 to Qatar meant that CONCACAF would have to wait at least 32 years between tournaments after the United States hosted the 1994 World Cup.

“From a CONCACAF perspective, our focus for the World Cup is 2026. We’re committed to that,” Webb told a select group of journalists at a meeting in midtown Manhattan on Tuesday.

“That’s not about the USA hosting the World Cup, for us it’s about a confederation standpoint.

“CONCACAF was obviously hard done (by) when (the) rotation stopped, we were the ones who lost out because it should have been our turn after Brazil. When the rotation stopped, obviously it impacted us the most.”

Although FIFA scrapped its rotation policy, it did introduce a new rule stipulating that countries could not host the World Cup if another nation from their confederations had staged either of the past two.

This rule means that Europe and Asia are already out of the running for 2026, leaving CONCACAF as the frontrunners to win the vote ahead of any possible bids from Africa, South America or Oceania.

The U.S., Canada and Mexico have all expressed interest in hosting the 2026 World Cup but Webb said it was paramount that the region threw its weight behind one bid, although he did not rule out the possibility of a co-hosting arrangement.

“Obviously we believe our best chances is to put one member forward, one country forward, one bid forward, that gives us our best opportunity,” he said.

“CONCACAF has 35 votes and of course if you split those votes amongst ourselves you’re defeating the purpose.”

The only co-hosted World Cup finals so far were organized by Japan and South Korea in 2002. The tournament presented some logistical problems because Japan and South Korea had separate committee.

FIFA has since said that any future joint bids would have to be organized under a single committee, raising the prospect that the U.S. could join forces with either Mexico or Canada for 2026 if the countries could reach an agreement.

“I think it is very much possible,” said Webb.

“FIFA did it in the past in 2002 with Japan and Korea and the experience from that was not too well.

“Obviously there are various costs and so forth increased by having two different local organizing committees in two different countries so from that standpoint I thought it (2002) was a logistical nightmare from my memory, but definitely it’s a possibility.”

(Reporting by Julian Linden, editing by Pritha Sarkar)

FIFA President Joseph ”Sepp” Blatter (R) gestures next to CONCACAF President Jeffrey Webb during a news conference at the CONCACAF congress in Panama City April 19, 2013.

CREDIT: REUTERS/CARLOS JASSO

For more on this story go to: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/13/us-soccer-world-idUSKBN0DT1PI20140513

Related story:

Centennial Cup America logo unveiled

Official U.S. Spanish-Language Broadcast Partner Univision Serves as Host for Event

MIAMI, FL (Tuesday, May 13, 2014) – The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) and the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) unveiled today the logo for the historic Centennial Cup America, to be played in the United States in the summer of 2016.

At the Upfront event hosted in New York by Univision — officially named Tuesday as the U.S. Spanish-language television rights holder for the Centennial Cup America — the dynamic logo for this transcendent event was revealed to the public for the first time. The Centennial Cup America will mark the first time the historic South American championship has been played outside of that region, and represents the most important sporting event to come to North American shores in decades.

The logo design for the Centennial Cup America seeks to embody and celebrate the rich heritage of the world’s oldest national team competition as it celebrates one hundred years of existence, while reflecting a unique occasion set to unite football from across the whole of America.

“This is truly an exciting moment in the progression of this historic event,” said CONCACAF President Jeffrey Webb. “Today, with this vibrant logo revealed to the public for the first time, we can begin to concretely envision the excitement of the Centennial Cup America both on and off the field, as football fans start the countdown to 2016.”

In conjunction with the logo unveiling and Upfront event, wematch, the commercial rights holder for the Centennial Cup America, announced the naming of Univision as the official Spanish-language broadcaster in the U.S. for the tournament.

“It’s truly a pleasure to see this logo disseminated for the first time via the airwaves of Univision, a household name in Spanish-language entertainment throughout the Americas, and a platform that will serve to bring the Centennial Cup America to tens of millions of viewers across the U.S., come 2016,” said Mariano Jinkis, Principal of wematch. “In addition, we look forward to working cooperatively with Univision and our advertisers and sponsors to deliver unique 360-degree fan experiences on and off screen.”

The artwork for the newly launched logo represents the extensive American continent the tournament will bring together, as well as the two Confederations cooperating to stage this monumental sporting occasion.

A soccer ball at the center of the design forms the heart of the logo, emblematic of the game at the focal point of this sporting and cultural event. Three distinct shapes coalescing around that central point are meant to represent the fans and players of the game, in addition to the multiple American cultures to be united through sport in the United States in two years’ time.

The design, created by England-based firm The Works, Ltd., is rounded out by a modern interpretation of the historic Copa America trophy, reflecting a full century of heritage of an event which now looks ahead towards a new, bright frontier.

Completing the logo are two enclosing rings representing the historic cooperation of the two Confederations: blue for CONCACAF and green for CONMEBOL. Finally, the Centenario USA moniker – inscribed in a specially-created font underneath the golden Copa America name — is accented by a definitive color flash adopted from the host nation’s flag.

High definition artwork of the freshly unveiled logo can be downloaded here.

The Centennial Cup America will be held in cities across the United States in 2016, kicking off on June 3 and culminating with the Final on Sunday, June 26.

About CONCACAF

CONCACAF — the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football — is one of six continental confederations of FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) and serves as the governing body of football in this part of the world. It is comprised of 41 national associations, from Canada in the north to Guyana, Surinam and French Guyana in the south.

About CONMEBOL

The South American Football Confederation, founded in 2016, is the union of South American national associations and a member Confederation of FIFA. It is composed of ten Member Associations: the Argentine Football Association, the Bolivian Football Federation, the Brazilian Football Confederation, the Chilean Football Federation, the Colombian Football Federation, the Ecuadorian Football Federation, the Paraguayan Football Association, the Peruvian Football Federation, the Uruguayan Football Association, and the Venezuelan Football Federation.

About The Works, Ltd.

The Works is a design and digital agency working with many of the biggest sports brands around the world, enhancing their product through Passion, Creativity and Commitment. Founded in 1989 with 25 years of thriving business, The Works has built up a vast experience of sports branding, digital, motion production and event design. We are based in both the UK and São Paulo, Brazil. Our roster of clients includes FIFA, UEFA, FIBA, IAAF, FiA, FIVB, FIH, ERC and the NBA. We have worked across 11 sports in 45 different countries, delivering outstanding creativity for 8 World Cups, 8 UEFA Champions League Finals, 15 World Championships and 4 UEFA EURO Championships.

About wematch

wematch was established as a partnership between Full Play, Torneos and Traffic Sports to develop and promote the sport worldwide. Collectively, the three companies offer more than 80 years in media, entertainment and sports, spearheaded by soccer. The companies unite through shared values and common goals and now together as wematch are committed to jointly elevating the sport and business of soccer to ever-increasing levels. wematch will also look to position itself as an international leader in sports management, offering the highest standards in production, distribution and commercialization of the sport. wematch kicks off with the commercial rights to Copa America, the most important soccer tournament in the Americas.

Related story:

Jamaica, Egypt to meet in London friendly

KINGSTON, Jamaica – Jamaica will face Egypt in an international friendly scheduled for June 4 at London’s Matchroom Stadium, home of Leyton Orient.

Thursday’s announcement was another in a series detailing the Caribbean giant’s growing list of high-profile opponents as it prepares to host the Caribbean Cup finals later this year.

The Reggae Boyz will also meet Serbia (May 26 in Harrison, New Jersey, USA), Switzerland (May 30 in Lucerne) and France (June 8 in Lille).

Captain Horace Burrell, President of the Jamaica Football Federation, believes fixtures of this quality will be critical to the team’s overall technical programme, especially with a place in the 2016 Copa America Centenario at stake.

“Securing another high profile opponent is in keeping with our vision of preparing the team well to compete at the highest level,” said Captain Burrell. “Egypt is a many-time African champion and is ranked highly by FIFA, so that will be a tough test for us.

“All these matches also represent the preparation phase of the upcoming Caribbean Cup, and we must prepare properly and I can’t think of a better way to prepare, especially with the added incentive of a possible place in the centennial 2016 edition of the Copa America.”

Egypt is placed 24th in the latest FIFA Rankings and sits second in the Confederation of African Football behind Côte d’Ivoire.

Jamaica is ranked ninth in CONCACAF and third in the Caribbean Football Union behind Trinidad & Tobago and Haiti.

Captain Burrell expects the upcoming slate of games to be competitive, but noted that they represented a chance for management to assess various players.

“This series of games will be tough and will present the coaching staff, led by Mr Winfried Schaefer, with the opportunity to look at players in different conditions and match situations,” he pointed out.

With the games planned outside of the FIFA calendar, Captain Burrell hopes that the best players would be available.

“What I can say is that we intend to field our strongest possible team in all of these matches,” he concluded.

PHOTO: Jamaica (yellow jersey), shown above in a June 4, 2013, World Cup qualifier against Mexico, has lined up a series of challenging friendlies to be played over the next month. (Photo: Mexsport)