Victor Montagliani, FIFA vice-president and CONCACAF president, takes a question during a press conference
Friday afternoon, Sept. 17, 2021 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Offi cials were touring the stadium as part of
the FIFA World Cup 2026 Candidate Host City Tour. Associated Press/Ben Gray
CONCACAF expands Champions League
T&T cyclist grabs three gold medals at Nations Cup
By Azad Ali
Trinidad and Tobago cyclist, Nicholas
Paul bagged three gold medals at
the recent International Cycling Union
(ICU) Tissor Track Cycling Nations Cup
in Cali, Colombia.
In the fourth and final day, Paul, the
world record holder for the men’s flying
200 meters, repelled the attacks and
defeated Colombia’s Kevin Quintero in
two straight rides in the best-of- three
to win the gold medal.
Paul, 22, had captured the second
of his three gold medals in the keirin
event.
Caribbean Life, S 30 EPTEMBER 24-30, 2021
Those two winning efforts supplemented
his first gold medal on the
second night of the competition, in the
one-kilometer time trial.
The ace T&T cyclist won the first
ride in 10.196 seconds at an an average
speed of 70.616 kilometer per hour and
then followed with a much quicker time
of 9.845 at 73.134 km/h in the second
ride to claim the gold, his third from
as many events over the four days of
competition.
Overall, T&T with a contingent of
four cyclists has so far won three gold
medals.
By Nelson A. King
CONCACAF announced on Tuesday
a new structure for its men’s club competitions
ecosystem that will include
an expanded CONCACAF Champions
League and individual regional cup
competitions in North America, Central
America and the Caribbean.
From 2023 onwards, CONCACAF
said three regional cup competitions
will be played in the fall of each year and
will qualify clubs into the CONCACAF
Champions League.
Following the conclusion of the three
cups, CONCACAF said a Confederationwide
expanded 27-club CONCACAFChampions
League will be played in the
spring to crown the region’s best club.
“This is a hugely significant development
for CONCACAF and for leagues
and clubs in our region,” said CONCACAF
President and FIFA Vice president,
Victor Montagliani. “The CONCACAF
Champions League has consistently
grown in recent years and this
new format will provide a major boost
to the competition.
“Working collaboratively with our
stakeholders we have been able to create
a new calendar, which grows and
enhances our Champions League and
fully incorporates regional cup competitions,”
he added. “This will elevate
clubs and leagues from Concacaf and
provide even more compelling regional
rivalries.
“It will also provide more international
relevance to our club competitions,
and a very competitive pathway
as clubs strive to qualify for the FIFA
Club World Cup and succeed on the global
stage,” Montagliani. Continued.
This new format of regional cups will
allow for the three regions to crown
their own champion, prior to the CONCACAF
Champions League, which will
see clubs compete to win the Confederation’s
club title and qualify to the FIFA
Club World Cup, CONCACAF.
It said the new CONCACAF Champions
League will continue to be played in
a direct elimination knockout stage format
and will be composed of five rounds
(round one, round of 16, quarterfinals,
semifinals and final).
The first four stages will include
home and away play, while the Final,
where CONCACAF’s Champion will be
crowned, will be played as a single leg
match on a weekend date.
Of the 27 clubs that will participate,
22 will begin play in Round One and five
will receive a bye to the Round of 16,
CONCACAF said.
For the Caribbean, clubs will qualify
for the CONCACAF Champions League
via a new Caribbean Cup that will
include a Group Stage and a Knockout
Stage.
Holding
Continued from Page 29
cricket season.
He is widely regarded as one game’s
greatest fast bowlers, playing for the
West Indies from 1975 to 1987 and
becoming an integral part of the
all-conquering West Indies sides of
the era.
Holding never held back from
expressing some forthright opinions
on the game, not least that he would
not commentate in domestic Twenty20
leagues, because he thought it
was not cricket.
Having been keenly aware that the
significance of the West Indies teams
he played for went far beyond the field
of play, the Black Lives Matter movement
in the aftermath of the murder
of George Floyd last year became a
moment for Holding’s voice to be
heard loud and clear once again.
His personal piece to Sky’s camera
on racism and inequality became one
of the highlights of the year, eventually
winning two broadcast awards in
the United Kingdom .
Holding, who has been with Sky
Sports for more than three decades,
won the Royal Television Society
(RTS) Award for Sports Presenter,
Commentator or Pundit and
the channel, the best Sports Program
award.
The RTS said Holding “captured the
mood of the event perfectly, bringing
a personal perspective to bear on a
moment of huge significance,” when
talking about Floyd’s murder and the
movement it sparked.
That led this year to his acclaimed
book, “Why We Kneel, How We Rise”
dealing with racism in sport, cricinfo
reported.
LAST BALL
Continued from Page 29
fours) hit Kesrick William final delivery
and for four to snatch the winning run
alongside 18-year-old Pakistani teammate,
Naheem Shah (one not out).
Although a first-time CPL Twenty20
victory for the franchise, this was Captain
Dwayne Bravo’s fifth of the nineyear
tournament making him the only
player to achieve such a feat.The previous
times Bravo won the crown were
when the then Trinidad and Tobago
Red Steel (2015) and then rebranded
Trinbago Knight Riders (2017, 2018,
and 2020.)
This was Bravo’s 500th Twenty20
match of his illustrious career.
This was the second consecutive
year that St. Lucia Kings finished as
runners-up.
Last year they lost out to TKR in the
final match.
He praised his teammates, including
Vice Captain, Evin Williams, who
scored more than 200 runs in the
tournament.
Nicholas Paul of Trinidad and Tobago
in action at the Tokyo 2020
Olympics on Aug. 8, 2021. REUTERS/
Christian Hartmann/File