As CONCACAF moves to clean up its unsightly side where it has been dogged by corruption, one candidate for the presidency of the sub-continental body notes that development of the technical side of the game must continue apace.

And the Canadian, Victor Montagliani, has some ideas of his own which he thinks can propel CONCACAF to a threshold where it can be more competitive with some of the powerhouses, like Europe and South America.

He advocates the position that CONCACAF ought to offer greater leadership when it comes to the technical aspect, and sees a more wholesome programme for coaches and referees as a potential driver of this thrust.

“One of the issues and one of the things we need to look at is technical leadership within CONCACAF. We need to focus on developing our coaches and referees, and one of these things is not just offering courses,” argues Montagliani, the president of the Canadian Soccer Federation.

“It’s great that you educate people, but the problem is that they don’t get to grow as professionals. I think establishing a centre of excellence for coaches and a centre of excellence for referees in CONCACAF where coaches are identified in the Caribbean and Central America and are able to access our top leagues in CONCACAF, and this includes the US,” he noted.

Montagliani, who runs an insurance brokerage firm in his homeland with partners, says bringing CONCACAF coaches and referees up to par with their top-performing colleagues around the world will only happen when the environment conducive to this process is created.

“Once those coaches and referees have that access, then they would be able to go back to their countries as a much more finished product to help perpetuate that development in their countries,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

Montagliani thinks a programme that exists in Europe where referees from the not so glamorous footballing nations go into countries like Spain to officiate could be replicated in CONCACAF.

“This is something that has been done in other confederations, and I know as a fact that in Europe, refs in Scandinavia and in other parts of Europe have been given opportunities to referee in the Spanish second division because it’s a much higher level than in their own countries.

“And what happens is that they start to develop individuals, who then get more international experience, then they get put back into their domestic environments and that helps more… that would perpetuate more development in the respective countries, rather than just educating people,” said the 50-year-old Montagliani.

He maintains that a programme like this for referees and coaches, over time, will grow the technical side of the game in his own confederation.

“So rather than getting just 40 coaches educated, I would rather have 20 coaches with experience at the higher level, and referees at the higher level.

“And so I think one of the things we (CONCACAF) need to do is invest in the leadership of the technical side and there is no doubt about this,” Montagliani concluded.

The Canadian will go to the May 12 polls for the CONCACAF presidency confident of victory, but he will have to beat back the challenge of Antigua’s Gordon Derrick, Bermudan FA president Larry Mussenden and Canada-based Guyanese Mark Rodriquez.

— Sean Williams