WIFA heads to hold discussions in SVG this weekend

Presidents of Windward Islands Football Associations (WIFA) will meet over the weekend in St Vincent and the Grenadines.

The WIFA presidents will discuss, among other matters, the staging of next year’s tournament in St Lucia, as well as the introduction of a women’s version of WIFA tournament for female footballers in the subregion.{{more}}

Other items down for discussion include WIFA youth competitions (boys and girls U13), sponsorship, establishment of a Competition Committee, four-year Calendar of Activities, revival of an OECS football championship and future participation of league champions within the Windward Islands in the Caribbean Football Union Club Championship.

President of WIFA, Vincentian Venold Coombs, who will play host to the WIFA presidents’ meeting, says the revival of the WIFA tournament is already bearing fruit and he believes in a few years teams from the subregion will enjoy prominence within the Confederation.

The WIFA president stated “ We are getting ready for the near future, and I am confident that not too long from now the names St Vincent and the Grenadines, St Lucia, Dominica and Grenada will be household names in FIFA, mark my word.”

Meanwhile Cheney Joseph, president of the Grenada Football Association and current first vice-president of the Caribbean Football Union, believes tournaments like these provide an opportunity for the smaller islands to better prepare for regional and international tournaments.

“We must not hesitate to provide opportunities for our women and youth who are short of tournaments at this time; hence GFA’s support for the considerations given to increase tournaments within WIFA,” Joseph stated.

Joseph confirmed that support for the WIFA tournament is coming from both CFU and CONCACAF and disputed any notion that this will cause any concerns for the Caribbean Football Union and CONCACAF.

The revived tournament is into its third year, with tournaments being held previously in St Vincent and the Grenadines and Dominica respectively.

Grenada is expected to host the tournament in 2016.