The fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic continues as Confederation of Central America and the Caribbean (Concacaf) has opted to cancel the Caribbean Club Championship and the Caribbean Club Shield football competitions.
“Concacaf is continuing to work with its stakeholders to plan for the resumption of its suspended competitions as soon as possible,” a release from the confederation stated.
“In the cases of the 2020 Concacaf Caribbean Club Shield and 2020 Flow Concacaf Caribbean Club Championship, originally due to take place in April in Curacao and May in the Dominican Republic respectively, Concacaf unfortunately has no other choice but to cancel both events,” the release added.
Two-time national club champion Fruta Conquerors were expected to participate in the Caribbean Club Shield before their unexpected withdrawal.
“Despite significant efforts to reorganize both competitions to be played in September, the impact of COVID-19 and extensive travel restrictions in the region made this impossible for the Confederation,” stated the release.
According to Concacaf, the decision to pull the plug on the two tournaments was made after consultations with the two host countries.
“As the competitions include qualification for the Scotiabank Concacaf League, scheduled to start on October 20th 2020, September was the last opportunity for them to take place within the current calendar. The decision to cancel these events was made following discussions with the Curacao Football Association, the Dominican Republic Football Association, the Dominican Football League and communication from participating clubs. We are very grateful for their support and understanding in this challenging situation.”
Two-time defending Elite League champions Fruta Conquerors withdrew from the 2020 Caribbean Club Shield, the second tier tournament of the Caribbean Club Championship but the reason for their withdrawal has not been made known. The Tucville based outfit participated in Group-A of the 2019 competition which was hosted in Curacao.
The Guyanese ended with a record of one draw and two losses to end in the cellar position. Fruta Conquerors lost to Scholars International Sports Club of Cayman Islands 2-0, before battling to a scoreless affair with home side Jong Holland. They would then lose 4-0 to Santiago de Cuba in the final match.
The 2020 Caribbean Club Shield, which is in its third edition and is also known as the CFU Club Shield, is staged annually and features clubs from associations affiliated to the Caribbean Football Union (CFU), a sub-confederation under the jurisdiction of Concacaf. The event was initially scheduled to be hosted in Curacao from April 3rd-12th. However, the competition was postponed on March 13th, as Concacaf suspended all competitions due to the covid-19 pandemic.
The teams that were down to compete in the Caribbean Club Shield were Liberta (Antigua and Barbuda), Racing Club (Aruba), Defence Force (Barbados), Real Rincon (Bonaire), One Live United (BVI), Scholars International (Cayman Islands), Santiago de Cuba (Cuba), Vesta (Curacao), South East (Dominica), Amical Club (Guadeloupe), Club Franciscain (Martinique), Metropolitan (Puerto Rico), Platinum FC (Saint Lucia), BESCO Pastures (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines) and Inter Moengotapoe (Suriname). Defending champion Robin Hood of Suriname will be unable to defend their title as they failed to qualify.
The eventual winner of the Concacaf Club Shield, once they fulfill the Concacaf Regional Club Licensing Criteria, will face-off against the fourth placed team of the 2020 Concacaf Caribbean Club Championship in a playoff match to determine the final Caribbean berth to the 2020 Concacaf Champions League.
The Caribbean Club Shield, which is directly supervised and administered by Concacaf, was introduced in 2018 for non-professional leagues which are striving towards professional standards
