FOR the first time the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) Under-20 Championship is being contested outside of North America.

The honour of hosting the championship has been bestowed on Jamaica, and the new 12-team format is being implemented for the first time.

CONCACAF president Jeff Webb, at the press launch of the Championship yesterday, explained the change of format as part of the continued development of football in the region.

“I was in Panama watching the finals and I think it was Haiti who arrived on a Tuesday and they played Wednesday, and by Friday night or Saturday they were leaving. Then I said, this is not good value, this is not development,” said Webb.

“So we wanted to create a format so when a national team travel for a competition they participate more than just two games and go home,” he added.

“So the format was changed to focus on a development standpoint to ensure that you get more opportunity to participate, more opportunity to play and more opportunity to play against national teams,” Webb explained.

The 2015 CONCACAF Under-20 Championship will include a field of 12 teams: five from the Caribbean Football Union (CFU), four from the Central American Football Union (UNCAF), and three from North America.

The tournament will crown the Confederation champion at this age level, and qualify four teams to the FIFA Under-20 World Cup New Zealand 2015 of which Webb will be chairman.

The new format will see the 12 qualifying teams divided into two groups of six, to play a round-robin format on the first five match days.

The resulting top team from each group will earn a direct berth to the FIFA Under-20 World Cup, and a place in the championship match on the final day.

Jamaica are drawn in Group A alongside USA, Trinidad and Tobago, Panama, Guatemala and Aruba, while Group B will be contested by defending champion Mexico, Cuba, Honduras, Canada, El Salvador and Haiti.

The second- and third-placed teams from each group will be re-seeded into a four-team table, based on points obtained during group play. The top team from that table will play the fourth-ranked team, and the second-ranked team will face off against the third-ranked nation, with the winners of each of those two final-day matches securing one of the two remaining tickets on offer to the FIFA Under-20 World Cup.

“We are looking forward to an exciting tournament. Of course this continues the journey for CONCACAF for empowering development,” said Webb.

“The FIFA Under-20 World Cup is a world championship that CONCACAF has never won. We have won the Under-17, so of course, the priority of CONCACAF is to continue the focus on the development of the game,” he continued.

The first set of matches began yesterday.

Meanwhile, the first set of matches began yesterday. Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) president Captain Horace Burrell, who is also CONCACAF vice-president, said the initiative to give Jamaica the opportunity to host the championship was a tremendous boost to local football development.

“We want to use this opportunity to thank the president of CONCACAF and the executive committee for having decided on Jamaica. It is the first time that an Under-20 tournament is hosted outside of the more established countries: Mexico, the United States and Canada,” said Burrell.

“It’s not very easy for countries without the necessary and well established facilities to host this particular tournament.

“It is easier to host an Under-17 and the junior levels, but at the Under-20 level this is where you find the professional players, and so when Jamaica was afforded the opportunity it was really a blessing and we appreciate this honour, President Webb, and we certainly hope that we will live up to all the expectations. We won’t disappoint you, Mr President, and by extension CONCACAF,” Burrell reiterated.

“To the CONCACAF sponsors Scotiabank, I think you have chosen a winner, and it is great to see that a bank as established as Scotia has seen it fit to partner with CONCACAF,” said Burrell.