Trini woman in CONCACAF first

TRINIDAD and Tobago’s Kerri-Ann Alleyne became the first-ever woman to be appointed to a position in CONCACAF. Her appointment to the position of deputy general secretary of CONCACAF for the Caribbean Zone was announced when the organisation’s executive  held their first meeting this year under the chairmanship of president Jack Austin Warner, at their New York offices on Friday. Alleyne spent four years as events coordinator of the Caribbean Football Union ( CFU) before her recent appointed as the organisation’s general secretary.

The position of CONCACAF Deputy General Secretary (Caribbean Zone) was previously held by Harold Taylor, who has now been appointed as FIFA’s development officer for the Caribbean. The Committee also unanimously supported a proposal for the recently appointed CONCACAF technical director, Keith Look Loy, and the director of development, Richard Braithwaite, both Trinidadians, to coordinate efforts and work closely to produce a realistic and focused development programme for CONCACAF for further consideration. CONCACAF also announced they will support New York City’s bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games.

The CONCACAF executive committee unanimously agreed to throw in their support with New York, after hearing a presentation by their bid committee including Donna De Verona. At the meeting, the executive received reports on all past, current and future competitions in addition to departmental reports covering all aspects of the Confederations activities. And following reports of projectiles being thrown by spectators onto the field of play and toward officials and players, most recently during the CONCACAF Champions’ Cup match between Deportivo Saprissa of Costa Rica and CF Monterrey of Mexico on April 7, the executive affirmed their  determination that clubs be held responsible for the actions of their supporters within stadiums.

The Committee further emphasised the intention of CONCACAF to make full use of the penalties and sanctions at their disposal in dealing with such incidents. The Committee was advised that the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) plans to hold a CFU Congress at the time of the next FIFA Congress, which is being held in Marrakech, Morocco from September 9-11. The CFU Congress will deal specifically with a proposal from the Jamaican Football Federation to go it alone in terms of the negotiation of TV rights associated with key events.

The Committee also heard that CONCACAF had been approached by UNICEF to form an alliance between the two organisations aiming to use the potential of the sport of football to promote the work of UNICEF and encourage the effective involvement of football in the delivery of UNICEF’s programmes with children across the CONCACAF region. The Committee unanimously supported a proposal to work with UNICEF on an exclusive basis, as CONCACAF’s nominated partner, to provide more focused activities in pursuit of good causes.