HARBOUR View FC has partnered with Nestle, through liquid supplement brand Supligen, to host Group Three in the preliminary round of the 2014 Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Club Championship next month.

Clyde Jureidini, general manager of Harbour View, after accepting the $2-million symbolic cheque from Supligen, told the Jamaica Observer that the cash sponsorship will help to offset costs relating to the CFU Championships.

“The funding is to help with our team preparation, staging the tournament and to assist with overseas transportation expense because if we win [the group] we are likely to travel,” he said at yesterday’s press announcement at the Jamaica Football Federation’s headquarters in New Kingston.

“We encourage all to come out and support and we thank everyone in the football fraternity and particularly Nestle Supligen for coming on board and partnering with us for the CFU [tournament],” Jureidini added in his speech.

The country manager of Nestle Jamaica Limited Jurg Blaser, who was accompanied by Shawna Kidd, Dairy Nestle Jamaica’s consumer marketing manager, said the partnership was a logical move.

“We are committed to creating social, environment and economic value, not only for our shareholders, but for all stakeholders and the society at large. The sponsorship of the CFU tournament is a logical step and Nestle is proud to be associated with Harbour View Football Club and our partnership, and we wish them a lot of success in this tournament,” Blaser said.

Harbour View, the two-time former champions, will host Defence Force FC of Trinidad & Tobago, Guyana’s Alpha United FC and Suriname’s Sporting Vereniging Notch in Group Three at the Harbour View Stadium.

Group One is set to be staged at Bayamon FC in Puerto Rico, while Group Two is slated for the home of Association Sportive de Mirebalais in Petion Ville, Haiti. Another Jamaican outfit, Waterhouse FC, will feature in Group Two.

To help avoid issues relating to integrity, the preliminary round matches in all three groups will be played between March 21 and 25.

The top-placed club in each of the three four-team groups progresses to the final round of qualifying.

Valencia is the 13th team competing in the CFU club competition. They are given a bye into the final round because of their performances in last season’s CFU Club Championship and CONCACAF Championships.

The final round play-off is scheduled for April 16-21 at a venue yet to be announced. Two teams will advance to the 2014/15 CONCACAF Champions League.

CFU general secretary Damien Hughes, in endorsing the tournament, stressed the importance of the Caribbean phase of the Championship.

“This tournament actually feeds into the FIFA Club World Cup. The top clubs that finish in this tournament qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League. The winner of the CONCACAF Champions League automatically qualify for the FIFA Club World Cup.

“You have essentially a cross-section of talent from across the region. All of these teams have played in the tournament before and so you are going to see quality football,” Hughes said.