Harris sees benefits to biennial World Cup

The possibility of having the men’s FIFA World Cup being played biennially instead of every four years is being seen as a positive and beneficial move for Caribbean football, says Caribbean Football Union (CFU) President Randy Harris.

Even though CFU has not had a formal meeting and is expected to have its congress sometime next month, Harris said that so far in speaking with a few presidents from other member associations within the region the idea is favourable.

“We have not had a formal meeting with our members as yet concerning this proposal but I have had discussions with some of our MA (member associations) presidents and I think many of us would be happy if this can become a reality.

“As you know in the Caribbean most of us are not playing enough competitions at that level and it gives us a better opportunity in our football development since our players would be exposed to a higher standard of competition,” Harris explained.

He added: “Basically we don’t play enough competitions in the Caribbean. For the most part, we are amateurs and we are at a great disadvantage not being able to play as much football as many of our colleagues in the confederations.

“We are looking at having our congress next month so we are looking forward to discussing it then but for my part I can see additional benefits for the region in terms of being able to play a higher level of competition”

Once approved, this move Harris believes could raise the standard of football in the Caribbean region because players would be allowed to play more matches.

However, the CFU boss says that he does not see this coming to fruition until 2030 because the FIFA World Cup for 2022 and 2026 have already been set in stone.

“We are able to play against top rivals and seeing this is the World Cup it brings more interest to football worldwide and I can only see us benefitting from such a decision from FIFA,” Harris stated.

He also addressed concerns that this may have a fatigue factor on the players. “There were some concerns about players and fatigue but I believe with proper planning we can have it because I know FIFA is interested in the welfare of the players and without the players there is nothing. So, I believe that it would be well thought out and it would be of a great benefit to football on a whole,” he said.

(morissalindsay@barbadostoday.bb)