ZURICH, Switzerland, CMC – Regional football governing body, CONCACAF said it has decided to cancel the regional qualifiers for its Women’s Under-17 competitions.
This follows the decision of FIFA, the sport’s World governing body, on Tuesday to cancel the Women’s Under-20 and Women’s Under-17 World Cups.
Eight Caribbean Football Union teams were involved in the Women’s Under-17 competition, which was scheduled to take place from April 18 to May 3 this year in Toluca, Mexico.
The eight CFU teams were Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico and Trinidad & Tobago, but the disruption caused to life by the COVID-19 pandemic has forced the cancellation of the competition.
“The impact of COVID-19 has been significant on the football calendar,” a CONCACAF statement said on its website.
“With further uncertainty regarding options for dates in 2021 and concern over international travel of minors in the current environment, it is particularly challenging to reschedule youth competitions.
“Following FIFA’s communication that it has cancelled the FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup, originally scheduled to take place in India in 2020, CONCACAF has decided that the regional qualifiers for this event will not take place.”
CONCACAF said it also noted FIFA’s decision that the 2020 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup, originally scheduled to be played this year in Costa Rica and Panama, will not now go ahead.
“The Confederation, however, welcomes FIFA’s decision to award to Costa Rica the 2022 edition of this World Cup,” he said. “The Costa Rican Federation will prove an excellent host for the competition.”
FIFA said their decisions were made after consulting with all stakeholders – including the host member associations, participating member associations and confederations – to continuously monitor the situation in relation to the pandemic, in particular with regard to any potential impact on the overall welfare and safety of age-group players and participants.
