National Stadium on track to stage CONCACAF U20 championships

MARC STAMP, STAR Writer

The Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) appears likely to remain hosts of next month's Confederation of North, Central American, and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) Under-20 Championship at the National Stadium in Kingston, following a final inspection done on Monday night.

Last week, JFF president Captain Horace Burrell suggested the sport's local governing body was in danger of losing the privilege of hosting the championship because the regional body was not pleased with an inspection done at the venue a few months ago.

However, after the latest inspection conducted by Kevin Messam, a representative of CONCACAF, things look highly in Jamaica's favour.

Messam flew into the island on Monday at 7:20 p.m. and immediately went to the National Stadium, where he was met by Major Desmon Brown, general manager of Independence Park Limited (IPL), and his technical team.

"The inspection was done, and we're awaiting a report that will be submitted to the JFF and then to us (IPL)," Major Brown told STAR Sports yesterday morning.

Looks favourable

"It looks favourable," he added of Jamaica's chances of remaining hosts of the CONCACAF Under-20 championship set to run January 9-24 in Kingston and Montego Bay.

"The light meter intensity was tested to see the level of lighting and it looks positive, Brown informed.

Meanwhile, Burrell was positive about the inspection done two nights ago.

"Everything is intact for the staging of the championship next month," he told STAR Sports.

"They turned on the light, and the inspection lasted about an hour ... so based on indication, we will be hosting the championship," the JFF boss added.

"We expect to get a report within the next 24 hours (by today). There seems to be much improvement, and we are expecting a positive response from CONCACAF tomorrow. I'm optimistic about it," he said.

Meanwhile, Jamaica's Under-20 team that participated in the Copa Simon Bolivar tournament in Venezuela lost all three games in the South American country.

Defeats

The team, coached by Theodore 'Tappa' Whitmore and his assistant, Lenworth 'Teacher' Hyde, suffered defeats to Paraguay 3-1, Peru 5-1, and hosts Venezuela 4-0, in the tournament used as a warm-up for the CONCACAF championship.

Twelve countries are down to compete in the January 9-24 tournament. Group A includes hosts Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Aruba, Panama, the United States, and Guatemala. Group B contains Haiti, Canada, Mexico, Cuba, Honduras, and El Salvador.

Matches are scheduled for the National Stadium and the Montego Bay Sports Complex in St James. Both venues will host Group A matches.

However, the Montego Bay Sports Complex will host all the action in Group B.

The tournament will crown the CONCACAF Under-20 champions and qualify four nations to the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in0 New Zealand 2015.