By Neto Baptiste From Antigua Observer

CONCACAF presidency hopeful Gordon Derrick has promised that one elected, he will set in motion, plans to host the region’s first professional football league.

Derrick, who is currently head of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU), has announced his candidacy for the May elections.

The Antigua & Barbuda Football Association (ABFA) general secretary however believes it’s time for a lucrative football league in the region.

“We had the MLS Combine with the CFU and there were at least eight players that they liked, they wanted them but each team in the US only has five spots open for international players. They might have already signed two or three from contracts already so they may only have space for one or two international players so they are looking for specific positions,” he said.

“If you go to Europe and you go to England, it’s the same thing; you can’t get a work permit unless you are ranked in the top 70. The key to this is to have your regional pro league where the players can see where they are going to play … put in that work, start to make a good living and hopefully move from there,” he added.

Derrick, who will face competition from Guyana’s Mark Rodrigues, Bermuda’s Larry Mussinden and Canada’s Victor Montagliani in the May 12 vote, said other countries within the region have proven that a pro league can be a viable asset outside of Europe and England.

“Mexico has one of the best leagues in the world … and highly paid too. The MLS is now rising heavily and they have three or four pro leagues in the US also so those are the two major countries. Costa Rica has a pro league, Honduras and Guatemala has, to a lesser extent, so they are there and as a region we have to develop them.

“It is critical because once we get into the pro side that is where the money is made and the money is paid; players are developed,” the CFU boss said.

Derrick added that preliminary research suggests the format currently used for another professional sporting league in the Caribbean could work just as well for football.

“I’ve had preliminary discussions with one or two persons who might have been involved in the CPL and they are adamant that it works for the CPL, so it will work for football which is more popular and has a bigger fan base. Football takes in all the Spanish countries and the French, which have the bigger populations, so they will come in. It’s a matter of really putting a study behind it and mapping it out,” he said.

The May elections will take place in Mexico City. Nominations will close on March 13.

IMAGE: President of the CFU and General Secretary of the ABFA Gordon Derrick (right) said a pro league is high on his agenda should he succeed in his bid to become president of CONCACAF. He is joined by ABFA technical director Rolston “Debu” Williams (center) and President of the ABFA Everton “Batow” Gonsalves. (File photo)

For more on this story go to: http://antiguaobserver.com/derrick-to-push-for-caribbean-pro-league-if-elected/