Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Football (CONCACAF)
About CONCACAF
The Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Football is one of six continental football federations in North, Central America and the Caribbean. This is the highest level organization representing the football of the countries of the three regions of North America, Central America and the Caribbean and is also the legal representative, expertise as well as the voice of football of the countries in North, Central America and the Caribbean. managed by the FIFA World Football Federation and is the only organization responsible for operating and organizing major international tournaments in North, Central America and the Caribbean.
Football in North, Central America and the Caribbean region does not actually develop in a team manner, the teams of the countries develop spontaneously and individually, the whole continent has many developed countries and is ranked first in the world in terms of culture, economy, and society, but in the field of sports, this continent has almost no voice and imprint of its own. If we have to name the top-class teams in North, Central America and the Caribbean, the number of teams is too few, only the US and Mexico are mentioned. However, American football also only participates in the world football community according to the general trend, but in fact, they do not have outstanding achievements, and Mexico is ranked in the top of the strongest teams in the continent and has never been able to be absent from the World Cup finals. But in terms of level, the entire North, Central America and Caribbean region, only Mexico is at the top in terms of quality, not only this country’s ranking is far behind all other countries. This is a real concern.
Faced with the above situation, was born as a way to systematically reform North, Central America and Caribbean football. the organization responsible for the implementation of large and small regional tournaments so that national teams have the opportunity to compete and gain experience. This is the basis for North, Central American and Caribbean football to become stronger, more uniform and capable of competing with other continents. serves as a major driving force behind the development of football in North, Central America and the Caribbean through investments in football infrastructure, technology, instruction and introduction of professional football for regional federations.
To compete for a place in the World Cup, the teams of the North, Central American and Caribbean Football Confederations will face more difficulties than other continents, due to their very modest participation in the largest football tournament on the planet. At the 2022 World Cup in Qatar this time, CONCACAF only received 3 places to attend. Therefore, the competition will be extremely high, usually, the teams will go through 3 qualifying rounds, the strongest team will definitely win tickets to the World Cup finals, the next matches will be determined by the two teams that win the remaining two tickets, in some cases, the bottom team can compete against the team from the Oceania region for the final spot.
History of the establishment
The North, Central American and Caribbean Football Federation were founded in 1961, this is considered the youngest football federation in the world, but in terms of speed and potential for development, still a prestigious and prestigious federation level in the region. CONCACAF was originally an organization made up of the Central American and Caribbean Football Confederation (CCCF) and the North American Football Confederation (NAFC). American football is inherently immature in the region, so the consolidation of small organizations to create a common organization is extremely necessary at that time. This is also the message that the Americas want to send to the world that they will seriously develop professional football and elevate this sport to become a strong sport across the continent.
Until now, head office is located in New York, USA. The reason for choosing the US as the headquarters is also because this is the country with the greatest potential and strength in the region in terms of international sports development. Currently, general secretary is the person with the highest authority to decide all competitions as well as orient the development of football in North, Central America and the Caribbean. However, in recent years, the CONCACAF secretariat has also been involved in a lot of scandals about fraud, they are accused of not focusing on developing pure football but doing football business with the purpose of commerce.
Presidium
As is customary, the presidency rotates every four years. However, some presidents have been involved in many money laundering, fraud, and scandals, so the rule of changing the position of president once every 4 years is no longer really applicable. Currently, Mr. Victor Montagliani is serving as the president since 2016 until now.
General secretary
Currently, Mr. Philippe Moggio is holding the position of Secretary General of . He is the person who carries out all the work under the direction of president Victor Montagliani and is in charge of the day-to-day operations of them . Moggio oversees and manages the launch and expansion of tournaments in the Americas region, and he consistently executes and promotes activities to make they a premier sports organization, while serving needs and wants to develop football of 41 member associations.
Regional Confederations affiliated
Currently, CONCACAF manages and operates 41 member countries. Divided into regional associations as follows: North American Regional Federation (NAFU), Central American Regional Federation (UNCAF), Caribbean Federation (CFU). In which, there are 3 regional teams that are not considered member countries, namely Saba, Sint Eustatius, Saint-Barthelemy, Saint-Pierre and Miquelon.
Location of football teams under CONCACAF
In terms of the ranking position of the countries under CONCACAF on the FIFA rankings, only Mexico and the US are two countries with positive rankings, the remaining countries do not have outstanding achievements and rankings. In addition, it is possible to mention Panama, Costa Rica or Honduras, although these countries are not really strong in football, they are also countries that have played in the World Cup finals. This is also enough to see the potential for football development in the future of these countries.
Tournaments of CONCACAF
The North, Central American and Caribbean Football Confederations have always presided over and hosted tournaments in the Americas, prominent among them are tournaments such as CONCACAF Gold Cup, CONCACAF Women’s Gold Cup, and the CONCACAF Women’s Gold Cup. CONCACAF Youth Football Championship, CONCACAF U20 Football Championship, CONCACAF U17 Football Championship, CONCACAF U20 Women’s Soccer Championship. In addition, CONCACAF also hosts a club tournament, the CONCACAF Club Championship.
Vision and mission
Founded with the vision and mission to fulfill all obligations with the goal of putting football first. With the slogan “Love for our game”, they wants to send a message to world football fans, which is to develop football together and dedicate to the common prosperity of world football. With us, football is transparent, integrity, and enthusiastic, they want to do everything to convey this beautiful message to the fans.