Prime Minister Calls on CONCACAF to Consider Implementing a Football Research Project in the Region

Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Portia Simpson Miller has called upon CONCACAF to explore the possibility of implementing a Football Research Project to inspire scholarship about the history, growth and development of the sport and the Confederation. The Prime Minister made the call at CONCACAF’s Inaugural Sports Summit on Tuesday (October 22) in the Cayman Islands where she delivered the main address.

“Such a project would not only  deepen  the  collaboration  among ourselves but would also assist in making supporters more interested in the game by having a deeper sense of football beyond the 90 minutes on the field,” the Prime Minister said.

Mrs Simpson Miller said that it is important to start football training programmes in infant schools so that the skills can be nurtured from an early age, adding that the beauty of the game transcend skills on the field to also help to “build confidence and character, tenacity and toughness and improve health and wellness.”

According to the Prime Minister football unites communities and sport can help to break down barriers, unite peoples, and resolve conflicts.

She congratulated Mr Jeff Webb for his elevation to the CONCACAF and as a Vice President of FIFA, noting his on-going contribution to international and regional sport development. She also used the opportunity to encourage the President and his team to plan and execute the way forward to deepen collaboration for a stronger Confederation. “At  the heart of what  we do, must be a re-doubling of efforts to develop new generations of players from our grassroots, which is rich with an abundance of talent – “diamonds in the rough‟ waiting for the structure and definition that can only come from a Confederation that cares,” the Prime Minister said.

The  three  day  CONCACAF  Sport  Summit  was  held  under  the  theme “Transformation through Partnership‟ and brought together Ministers of Sport and Presidents of Football Federations from thirty-one countries within the Caribbean and Latin America region.