Caribbean Football Union

History

The formation of the Caribbean Football Union is credited to former Trinidad and Tobago national footballer Patrick Raymond. In 1976, he approached Phil Woosnam, the Commissioner of the North American Soccer League (NASL), about ownership of a Caribbean franchise within the NASL, and instead, Woosnam proposed the formation of a Caribbean Professional League. Acting on Woosnam's advice, and with assistance from former England player-turned businessman Jimmy Hill and his company World Sports Academy, plus the recommendation of former FIFA President Sir Stanley Rous, that a Caribbean regional governing body as a sub-group within CONCACAF be the first order of business, Raymond introduced the initiative in August 1977 in Port of Spain, Trinidad, that eventually led to the formation of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU). The CFU was inaugurated on 28 January 1978, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, as the Caribbean region's governing football body and a sub-group within CONCACAF.

A previous effort to establish a Caribbean regional governing body was the British Caribbean Football Association (BCFA) in January 1957, with the Trinidad & Tobago FA's President Ken Galt as the BCFA's president, and the TTFA's Secretary Eric James as General Secretary, and in 1959, a representative BCFA team toured the UK.

In May 2013, under the direction of Damien E. Hughes, the CFU relocated their offices from Port-of-Spain, Trinidad to Kingston, Jamaica. In August 2015, Hughes was replaced by Antiguan Neil Cochrane. Cochrane announced that several jobs would be moved from Jamaica to Antigua and a smaller headquarters would be rented.

Corruption scandal

The union was embroiled in a scandal in May 2011 after several representatives of Caribbean Football Associations had been given brown paper envelopes containing US$40,000. The incident was reported to the CONCACAF general secretary Chuck Blazer. The next day, footage from a private meeting between CFU officials was leaked to the public. This footage showed President Jack Warner informing the delegates who had received envelopes that the funds within were for their personal use, stating, "If you're pious, you should go to church." An investigation initiated by FIFA examined the actions of over 30 CFU representatives and resulted in the resignation of the CFU president, the suspension of the organization's vice-presidents and staff, and the resignation of several national football association staff.

Competitions

The CFU Championship was a tournament for national teams in the region active between 1978 and 1988. It was sometimes referred to as the CFU Nations Cup. The Caribbean Cup was the international cup for the Caribbean between 1989 and 2017; the top 4 teams in the tournament used to qualify for the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

The Caribbean Club Championship was the championship for Caribbean club teams. The winner qualified for the CONCACAF Champions' Cup from 1997 and until 2008, and from 2008–09 until 2016–17, the top 3 clubs qualified for a preliminary round of the CONCACAF Champions League. Since 2017, the winner of the rebranded Caribbean Club Championship qualified for the knockout stage of the CONCACAF Champions League.

The CONCACAF Caribbean Cup is the latest announced regional competition.

Previously the CFU had organised a pan-Caribbean league, the Caribbean Professional Football League; it was active between 1992 and 1994.

Current title holders

1No outright winner or champion emerges from this competition as it is not a competitive championship.

Representative team

A Caribbean national team has played several exhibition fixtures. In 1987 a Caribbean XI entertained Brazilian São Paulo FC and a year later a 'Caribbean Selection' played against the national team of Trinidad and Tobago. Since the formation of the CFU, games have typically taken place in Port of Spain.

• Netto
• Pita
• Lewis
• Elliot-Allen
• Wright

In August 1993, CFU President Jack Warner ruled out the possibility of merging the Caribbean nations into one national football team, similar to the West Indies cricket team. He said: "There seems to be some myth outside there that a Caribbean team is the answer to football in the region. I have never heard anything so ludicrous," said Warner, "If to reach a [FIFA] World Cup have to be considered by size, why haven't China ever made it. The simple fact is, we must take whatever seems to be our liabilities and make them our assets. Being small is never a liability in this sport".

Presidents

There have been three presidents (and three acting presidents) of the CFU since its foundation:

• SUR André Kamperveen (1978–1982)
• TRI Jack Warner (1983–2011)
• BRB Lisle Austin (2011) (acting president)
• HAI Yves Jean-Bart (2011–2012) (acting president)
• ATG Gordon Derrick (2012–2017)
• BRB Randolph Harris (2017–2018) (acting president)
• BRB Randolph Harris (2018–2025)
• Saint Lucia Lyndon Cooper (since 2025)

General secretaries

There have been seven general secretaries of the CFU since its foundation:

• TRI Jack Warner (1978–1982)
• TRI Ivan Barrow (1983–1993)
• TRI Harold Taylor (1993–2005)
• TRI Kerry-Ann Alleyne (2006)
• TRI Angenie Kanhai (2007–2011)
• Anguilla Damien Hughes (2012–2015)
• ATG Neil Cochrane (2015–2018)

Staff

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Member associations

Current members

Former Members

References

References

1. (2024). "Caribbean Football Union (CFU)". [[Union of International Associations]].
2. Walker, Howard. (27 May 2013). "Latoya DaCosta seeks to take CFU to next level". Jamaica Observer.
3. (27 August 2015). "Cochrane Appointed New CFU General Secretary". Antigua Observer.
4. (12 October 2011). "Exclusive video: Jack Warner's address to Caribbean Fifa delegates". Daily Telegraph.
5. (4 August 1993). "Warner Rejects Idea Of Pan-Caribbean Team". Jamaica Gleaner.
6. Austin was suspended from his position after four days for attempting to overrule FIFA in the Barbadian civil court
7. Derrick was banned by FIFA.
8. Admin, CFU Web. "Gordon Derrick elected CFU President for a Second Consecutive Term - Caribbean Cup".
9. "Member Associations - Member Associations".