Burrell leads J’can CONCACAF promotions
Captain Horace Burrell has been named to 11 of 21 committees announced by the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) President Jeffrey Webb on Monday.
The president of the Jamaica Football Federation will chair three of those committees and will act as deputy chairman for eight others.
Burrell, who is expected to be elected unopposed as a vice-president of CONCACAF at its annual congress in Panama on Friday, will chair the Legal and Finance, National Associations and the Statutes and Regulation committees.
He will deputy chair the Association Competition (Olympics), Beach Soccer, Club Championships, Competitions Group, Five-A-Side Football (Futsal), National Team Events, Women’s Championships and Youth Competitions committees.
Burrell is also a member of FIFA’s Committee for Olympic Football Tournaments. Other Jamaicans already serving on FIFA standing committees are Horace Reid (Beach Soccer), Theodore Whitmore (Football) and Tony James (Under-17).
In reacting to the latest announcements of his and his countrymen’s appointments to the sub-continental body, Burrell said it is a solid demonstration of the confidence placed in the ability of Jamaicans to administer sport beyond their native shores.
“It shows that Jamaica’s football is growing in every critical area and, as is demonstrated by this raft of new appointments, stands ready to play its role in helping in the further development of the game at the regional, confederation and global levels,” he said.
Other Jamaicans getting appointments at the CONCACAF level are Leighton McKnight (Chairman of Audit and Compliance Committee), Elaine Walker Brown (Women’s Championship Committee), Robert Finzi-Smith (Security and Fairplay Committee), Lincoln ‘Happy’ Sutherland (Disciplinary Committee), Dr Guyan Arscott (Sports Medicine Committee), Peter Prendergast (Referees Committee), Vin Blainen (Technical Committee) and Saleem Lazarus (Youth Championship Committee).
The announcements, according to Webb, assure a wide and diverse representation from the CONCACAF region.
“The decisions made regarding CONCACAF should always include the participation of our member associations,” the Caymanian was quoted in a CONCACAF release.
“We are delighted to have received full acceptance from experts in the different disciplines within our region that come from both inside and outside the football family. Together, we look forward to continuing to set the foundations for football development in our region,” Webb said.
The latest appointments, in addition to the previously announced committees (Audit and Compliance, Finance, Gold Cup, and Integrity), round out 25 working groups contributing to all decisions made regarding all functional areas of the confederation, CONCACAF said.
Other CONCACAF working groups are Administration Panel Committee, Appeal Committee, Public Affairs Group of Committees, Technical Group of Committees, and Women’s Technical Committee.
At the regional level, six Jamaicans serve on various Caribbean Football Union (CFU) committees. They are Bruce Gaynor (Disciplinary Committee), Raymond Anderson (Appeals Committee), Elaine Walker-Brown (Women’s Committee), Raymond Grant (Finance Committee) and Everton Tomlinson (Technical Committee).