The draw details for the Concacaf Qualifiers to FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 have been confirmed.
The draw will take place on August 19 and as previously announced, the Concacaf Qualifiers for Qatar 2022 will take place over the course of three rounds, beginning with the First Round in October and November 2020.
Thirty of Concacaf’s 35 FIFA Member Associations will start the journey to compete for the region’s 3.5 qualifying spots.
Based on the FIFA World Ranking as of 16 July 2020, the draw for the first round will allocate the 30 lowest-ranked Concacaf teams to six groups.
The pots for the first-round draw are as follows:
Pot 1: El Salvador, Canada, Curaçao, Panama, Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago
Pot 2: Antigua and Barbuda, Guatemala, St Kitts and Nevis, Suriname, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic
Pot 3: Grenada, Barbados, Guyana, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Bermuda, Belize
Pot 4: St Lucia, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Montserrat, Dominica, Cayman Islands
Pot 5: Bahamas, Aruba, Turks and Caicos Islands, US Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, Anguilla
The draw will begin by allocating the 30 teams into six different groups consisting of five teams in each group. The six teams from Pot 1, including 2018 FIFA World Cup participant Panama, will be pre-seeded to positions A1, B1, C1, D1, E1 and F1.
The highest-ranked team in Pot 1, El Salvador, will occupy position A1, while the lowest-ranked team in Pot 1, Trinidad and Tobago, will occupy position F1.
The draw will continue by identifying groups for teams in Pots 2, 3, 4 and 5. The position which each team occupies in a group is determined based on the pot from which it is drawn. For example, teams from Pot 2 will be placed in position 2 of each group, teams from Pot 3 in position 3 of each group and so on.
Teams drawn from each pot will be allocated to groups sequentially: A to F. The first team drawn will be placed in Group A, the next team drawn will be placed in Group B and so un until Group F.
Antigua and Barbuda could replace suspended T&T for Gold Cup - but team keeps place until December
Trinidad and Tobago could be replaced by Antigua and Barbuda for next year's CONCACAF Gold Cup but, for now, remains a part of the competition’s official draw, scheduled for Monday.
On Thursday, FIFA announced the suspension of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) from all forms of international football, following its failure to withdraw a case that was before the T&T High Court, within the prescribed deadline.
As a result, T&T has had its membership privileges revoked and as such cannot compete in any tournaments. With the terms of the suspension hanging on just three conditions, however, the country could well rectify the situation and be reinstated before the start of the tournament next year.
In addressing the issue, Concacaf revealed it had decided, after an emergency meeting, that T&T would be included in the draw on Monday and remain a part of the competition until 5:00 pm ET on December 18, 2020. If the suspension has not been lifted by that time, Antigua and Barbuda, as the next highest-ranked team based on their 2019 Concacaf Nations League performance, will take their place.
Trinidad and Tobago remains among 12 teams set to compete in a preliminary round competition from July 2-6, 2021 prior to the start of next year’s tournament.
'FIFA owns football' - Former sports minister Roberts laments fact that TTFA fought unrealistic, 'losing war'
Former Trinidad and Tobago Minister of Sports Anil Roberts has lamented what he classifies to be a cause that was destined to be ‘a losing battle’ in wake of FIFA’s recent suspension of the TTFA from world football.
FIFA and the TTFA have been locked in a bitter dispute since March of this year, when the global football governing body appointed a normalisation committee to take over the affairs of the nation’s football, after dissolving the board. The then four-month-old William Wallace-led executive rejected the move and refused to recognize the committee, framing the actions as an infringement on the country’s sovereignty.
In its letter, however, FIFA pointed to article 8 paragraph 2 of the FIFA Statutes, as giving them the right to appoint a normalisation committee. The Wallace-led coalition then opted to take the case to the CAS before having issues with the cost of presenting the case and suggesting any ruling would have been biased towards FIFA. The body instead opted to take the case before the Trinidad and Tobago High Court, a move also prohibited by the FIFA statutes. In announcing the decision to suspend Trinidad and Tobago from international football on Thursday, FIFA pointed to violations of article 59, which states that;
“Recourse to ordinary courts of law is prohibited unless specifically provided for in the FIFA regulations. Recourse to ordinary courts of law for all types of provisional measures is also prohibited.”
According to Roberts, even if one were to submit to the fact that every argument made by the ousted TTFA officials were correct, they ignored a certain reality.
“There was no other outcome. So, let us pretend that the TTFA was absolutely right. Every argument they made, FIFA was being high handed, their decisions were wrong, they were using their power to suppress and oppress Trinidad and Tobago and its organisation. Every argument was correct. You still could not win, because the idea is you want to play football and FIFA controls football,” Roberts said in an exclusive interview with the SportsMax Zone.
Since 2003, FIFA has suspended around 24 countries for various disputes and violations of its statutes. Antigua and Barbuda are the only other Caribbean country suspended during the period.
“We must be realistic in the world we live in. In the world of sport, whether we like it or not, FIFA owns football. Anyone who does not understand that is naive or would like to fight a war that cannot be won,” Roberts added.
“FIFA owns football. Everything we want as a country, as a territory, they control. Whether it is through their World Cup male and female tournaments or their junior age-group World Cups. Whether its through their ability to control club football, world club football, Champions League, CONCACAF Gold Cup, opportunities for our young players to get contracts…So this was a losing war from the onset.”
Rumour Has It: Man Utd to make final Sancho bid, Madrid face Camavinga competition
Jadon Sancho has been tipped to swap Borussia Dortmund for Manchester United, but he remains in Germany.
Sancho's valuation has proved a stumbling block for United, who have made the England international their number one transfer target.
United, though, are not giving up hope as they reportedly make one last attempt to sign the 20-year-old.
TOP STORY – UNITED SET FOR FINAL SANCHO OFFER
Manchester United will make a take-it-or-leave-it offer for Borussia Dortmund star Jadon Sancho, according to the Daily Star and the Mirror.
United have so far been unable to prise Sancho from Dortmund, who refuse to budge on their €120million (£108m) asking price.
But United are preparing a final and non-negotiable £90m (€98m) offer, with £75m (€82m) up front with an additional £15m (€16m) in add-ons.
ROUND-UP
- AS reports Real Madrid face competition for Rennes teenager Eduardo Camavinga. Eyeing a move for Camavinga in 2021, Madrid are set to face a battle from Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus and Bayern Munich.
- Kylian Mbappe could be available for around €100m, says L'Equipe. The PSG star, who is reportedly seeking an exit, is wanted by Madrid and Liverpool.
- The Sun claims Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga is set to leave Stamford Bridge on loan following Edouard Mendy's arrival.
- Madrid forward Borja Mayoral has agreed to join Serie A side Roma, reports DiMarzio.
- Alfredo Pedulla says Juventus are weighing up a €60m move for Fiorentina star Federico Chiesa, who has also been linked to Milan.
- If Milan Skriniar leaves for Tottenham, DiMarzio claims Inter could target Schalke star and Liverpool target Ozan Kabak.
- According to Marca, Barcelona are making a late push to sign long-time target and Inter forward Lautaro Martinez following Luis Suarez's switch to Atletico Madrid.
- Barca are confident they will sign Ajax full-back Sergino Dest ahead of Bayern, says Fabrizio Romano.
- Romano also reports that Atletico will not negotiate with Arsenal regarding Thomas Partey as they believe he will stay in the Spanish capital.
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