CONCACAF to host sports summit on development through football

MIAMI, Florida – The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) announced the first 2013 Sports Summit, to be hosted on October 22 in the Cayman Islands.

The principal objective of the Sports Summit is to enrich the vital partnership between governments and football federations in order to further grow and develop the sport within the region. The theme of the summit, “Transformation through Partnership", outlines and encourages social and economic development as well as sports tourism opportunities.

“CONCACAF is fostering this dialogue as a moment to contemplate and set strategies of collaboration for the future development and growth of our region. The Confederation will assemble all stakeholders to better understand and maximise the potential for strong partnership and co-operation between government authorities and federations,” said CONCACAF president Jeffrey Webb.

Among other VIP guests, the summit features the participation of ministers of sport and presidents of all 41 member associations from the CONCACAF region, who will be part of a day-long agenda featuring keynote speakers FIFA president Joseph ‘Sepp’ Blatter and Randolph Horton.

Other panellists include former Manchester United and Trinidad & Tobago national team forward, Dwight Yorke; UNAIDS Senior Advisor to the Executive Director, Dr Djibril Diallo; CEO of the Supreme Committee, FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, Hassan Abdullah Al-Thawadi; and CEO of the FIFA World Cup South Africa 2010, Dr Danny Jordaan.

“We are honoured to have gathered such distinguished speakers to offer their unique contribution on the power of football as a tool for social, cultural and economic development,” noted Webb. “We are certain this inaugural Sports Summit will enhance the discussion towards an improved strategy for building bridges of collaboration for the future of sports in the region.”

All stakeholders, together with famed soccer figures from around the world, will exchange their experience and knowledge on topics including:

• The profound impact of football on societies (including health, education, and crime prevention);

• The economic legacies of football (sports tourism, hosting events, etc);

• Creating successful cross-sector and public/private partnerships;

• Players’ and coaches’ perspectives on how the game has changed their lives, and can change those of others.

The Sports Summit serves to emphasise CONCACAF’s deep process of reform by empowering all federations through development across the region to establish a strong foundation that will grow the sport from grass-roots to world-class competition levels.