September 14 – Caribbean Football Union (CFU) President Randy Harris has backed FIFA’s plans for a biennial World Cup, arguing that it would offer more “high-quality playing opportunities” for his member associations.
In an interview with Jamaican newspaper The Gleaner, Harris, a heavyweight in the local football arena, said that “in our region, we are not playing competitive football at the level of World Cup qualifying and trying to make it to the finals. We in the Caribbean, would support a World Cup every two years. The World Cup would bring an appeal to the players, officials and the general public that nothing else does.”
Harris believes that a World Cup every two years would not be too detrimental to the continental tournaments. In FIFA’s plans, those tournaments would either continue or also switch to a biennial cycle.
“The truth is if we have it biennially there is more activity, especially in a region such as ours,” said Harris.
“I think people are a bit worried that the World Cup would take away from the confederations’ tournaments at this time. But I feel that a system can be worked out where we can all live in some harmony to make sure that the global game gets the exposure that it needs.”
At FIFA Congress, the proposal for a biennial World Cup was motioned by the Saudi Arabian Football Federation and the membership duly voted for a feasibility to be conducted.
“We just need to manage our time,” said Jamaica Football Federation president Michael Ricketts at the time. “I honestly think that it could work and we need to – just from a national standpoint, play more football.”
Harris’s CFU represents an important voting block in the CONCACAF region as well as on the global stage, uniting 25 FIFA member nations – as well as six territories that are not affiliated to the global governing body.
On Monday, Concacaf said in a statement that in its initial analysis it understood the merits of a World Cup every two years.
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