7 News Belize

FFB: The Show Goes On, who Cares What PM Says?
posted (June 14, 2011)
On Friday you heard the Minister of Sports say on this newscast - that he didn't expect the Belize national football selection to go ahead and play the opening match of the 2014 World Cup qualifying competition in Trinidad on June fifteenth.

And before that, on Wednesday, you heard the prime minister say that they can't play as a Belizean national selection because the FFB has been de-certified by the sports council. Well, guess what? Regardless of what those big men had to say, The Belizean National Section will play a world cup qualifier against Montserrat in Trinidad tomorrow.

The FFB coolly sent out a press release today announcing that the venue of the game has been changed from Larry Gomes stadium to Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva, Trinidad. The game will kick off at 4:00 Belize time tomorrow. It is Montserrat's home game -played in Trinidad because they don't have a stadium. The return match, Belize's home game is scheduled to be played on Sunday 19th June, 2011 at the FFB Field in Belmopan. Despite the controversy and government's insistence that the FFB is not authorized to field a national selection in its present predicament, tickets are on sale for that match. So what will happen next? Well, some hint of that comes from an international news report. The Reuters news agency reports that even if they win, Belize could be suspended at the end of the month because the National Sports Council has de-certified the FFB.

Reuters quotes an email from FIFA stating that, quote: (look down) "If the current situation of apparent governmental interference is not resolved by 30 June 2011, it will be referred to the FIFA emergency committee for evaluation and potential sanctions." Government's position remains that whatever selection goes out on the field tomorrow, is not the national selection of Belize.

We wish we could tell you who is on the selection - but FFB has - at no point - sent us a roster of who was selected for the team.

Still, we'll follow the game in Trinidad with interest and have the results for you tomorrow evening…

Home | Archives | Downloads/Podcasts | Advertise | Contact Us

7 News Belize