HexagonalBlog

Belize football returns

It's been a very long time since I had anything to write about Belizean soccer beyond the power struggle in the national federation.  But the newly formed Premier League of Belize elected a chairman earlier this month, and a new league season is on the horizon.  The new season starts next weekend (4-5 February) with twelve clubs split into two geographical zones.  The top two winners of the zones meet in the playoff stage.  Given that the playoffs are scheduled to start on 15 April, the regular season will be short, but it's not clear whether it will be a traditional double round-robin or some other variation that permits more intrazonal matches.

With the CONCACAF Champions League now providing a direct berth to all qualifiers, it's even more important that Belize get their domestic league competition in order.  We should see the first participation of a Belizean team since the first edition of the CCL.

 

The Central American honor roll

It's been a while since I've written on the Central American playoff scene, but all of the champions have been decided with the exception of Belize. Below is a summary of who won what:

A roundup of Central American playoff action -- 2011-12-05 edition

Well into the playoff phase in Central America's domestic leagues, as two leagues approach the finals and a new champion has been crowned in Panama.  Here's a summary of what happened over the past seven days:

A roundup of Central American action -- 2011-11-28

A roundup of action from around Central America, as all of the leagues are now in playoff stage.

A quick run through the Central American playoffs: 2011-11-13

Not much time for lots of prose, since I'm on my way to bed and will be out of town for a few days.  But I did want to put out the results and upcoming schedules for the playoff action throughout Central America.

Godoy to Godoy

Panamanian football players have been able to make inroads in South American clubs in recent years.  Not just Colombia, which has been a natural destination for historical reasons, but also Southern Cone countries such as Argentina or Chile.  Yesterday it was reported that Chepo FC's midfielder Aníbal Godoy will play for Argentina's Godoy Cruz on a loan deal that will run through the rest of the Argentine domestic season.  Godoy, who is 21, made 90 appearances and scored 14 goals for Chepo over his four years at the club.

Chepo finished in fifth position in the recent Apertura tournament, but they are known for being an incubator for young talent.  Mendoza-based Godoy Cruz currently lie in 11th place in the Argentine Primera Apertura tournament, 13 points behind champions-in-waiting Boca Juniors.

Honduras NT coach, member of the blogosphere

Honduras national team coach Luís Suárez has had a personal blog since June on which he writes about his experiences with the Honduran team and shares his viewpoints on coaching and leadership.  I particularly like his post on the type of football that he likes and doesn't like.  If you understand Spanish, it will be worth your time reading the posts and even if you don't, he uses fairly standard Spanish so a machine translation would be sufficient.  At any rate, a good read.

A roundup of Central American action -- 2011-11-13

It's been a very long time since I've done this, so here is a long-overdue look at action around the Central American leagues.  Despite the international calendar, several leagues were in action over the weekend.

FIFA to send high-ranking delegation to Belize

Tomorrow a high-ranking delegation of FIFA, CONCACAF, and UNCAF officials will arrive in Belize to mediate the ongoing conflict between the national government and the Football Federation of Belize.  The delegation is composed on officials from Central America but wearing different hats.  Rafael Salguero of Guatemala is on the FIFA Executive Committee, Ariel Alvarado of Guatemala represents the CONCACAF ExCo, and Rafael Tinoco is the UNCAF president. 

At the start of the preliminary round series between Belize and Montserrat, the Belizean government refused to recognize the FFB as the sport's governing body in the country, which resulted in the country being suspended by FIFA and then having its home leg match moved to Honduras.  In the interim, a rival federation to the FFB has been founded -- the National Football Association of Belize (NFAB) -- but last week the National Sports Council refused to recognize either association due to incomplete and unsatisfactory bylaws.  At this present time, there is no football association that represents Belize, at least in the eyes of the Belizean government.

It is not clear whether these high-ranking officials representing the chain of command in international soccer will mediate between the factions in Belizean soccer, or remind the national government that it is FIFA, not the national government, who will decide which federation is fit to represent that country.  There has been a lot of talk in the Belizean press that views the FIFA intervention as a positive and long-sought event, which strikes me as very naive. FIFA administrations have a track record of defending their allies in the national federations against inquiries by local governments, and FIFA has a major bargaining chip to use in any such discussion.  I don't see how this Belizean situation is so different.

FIFA kicks the Belize can down the road

FIFA's Emergency Committee has temporarily lifted the suspension of Belize's football federation until 15 August, which will allow the second leg of their preliminary round match against Montserrat to go forward.  FIFA suspended the FFB from international competition after the Belizean government ruled that the FFB was no longer authorized to represent the country in international competitions and then refused to offer security arrangements for the second leg match in Belize.  That match will now be played outside of the country in order to avoid any possibility of a further clash between the government and the federation.

Belize look like strong favorites to advance to the group stages of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying, but they are still in danger of being excluded from the competition.  It's clear that FIFA is giving both sides a chance to come to an agreement, andt it's also clear that FIFA will not permit the government to force out the FFB leadership.  FIFA stated that if the two parties are unable to reach an agreement by the middle of next month, Belize will once again be suspended from international competition. 

The big -- and forgotten -- losers of this mess are the Belizeans, who once again have to see their national team play a "home" qualifier in another country.