Burrell: Caribbean not ready for pro league
Published:Wednesday | January 8, 2014 | 12:00 AM
Ryon Jones, Staff Reporter
There are discussions across the region for the revival of the Caribbean Professional Football League (CPFL), which would reintroduce professional football in the Caribbean by setting up a multinational league.
Jeffrey Webb, president of the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) and chief executive officer of the Trinidad and Tobago Pro League, Dexter Skeene, have thrown their support behind the idea. Jamaica Football Federation president and CONCACAF vice-president, Captain Horace Burrell is, however, saying not so fast.
"I have heard some talk, but, frankly and honestly speaking, there is no infrastructural development across the Caribbean to accommodate such a football competition in a structured way, so personally, I don't see this manifesting itself now," Burrell reasoned. "There is so much that needs to be done before we can start looking at that, such as the level of financing and travel. Maybe in years to come, this will happen, but for right now, there is no infrastructural development.
"The CONCACAF president has said that a task force will be named to assess and do some preliminary work," Hughes disclosed. "The task force has not been named as yet, so until that is done, we will just continue as is."
SUSTAINABLE LEAGUE
Webb stated during a sports summit held in the Cayman Islands last October, that the Caribbean should consider a sustainable professional league.
"Our territories still lack a meaningful established professional league for the players to aspire to," Webb said. "This is a conversation and a topic for the Caribbean and for the smaller territories to make that giant step of competing and qualifying for a World Cup. This is something that must be at the top of the agenda for Caribbean football."
Webb did add that in order for such a league to be sustainable, economic partners and the support of governments would be needed.
Burrell is in agreement with Webb on that point as he believes steps will have to be taken to improve football in the small territories before the commencement of a regional football league.
"We also need infrastructural development prior to the league to ensure that all the countries are on a level playing field," Burrell said. "And also that it could be attractive enough for people to want to watch; the grounds will have to be improved."
Following discussions that dated back to 1977 the CPFL was first established in 1992. The teams that entered were franchises set up by local businessmen, but the league suffered from financial and organisational problems. In October 1994, the league was renamed Caribbean Major League Football, but the 1995 staging was cancelled after a number of postponements, and the tournament was not revived.
The Jamaican teams that entered over the four seasons were Kingston Lions, Wavers (later renamed Reno International), Cornwall County Lions and Harbour View.