CONCACAF President Jack Austin Warner began his tour of the 40 member associations of the CONCACAF region on 9 July with his official visit to Haiti. These visits will be used to gather first-hand information and review a range of topics that have an impact on the associations. These include internal administrative and technical issues, relations among members, relations with ruling bodies, specifically F!FA, UNCAF and CFU, as applicable, and their committees, relations with government, development issues and a vision for the association. The member association tour is part of Warner’s vision for CONCACAF and its members that will allow the realisation of goals and objectives for development in key areas of football, both on and off the field. Warner articulated this vision during the XXV Ordinary Congress in Toronto, Canada in May 2007, when he was elected for his fifth consecutive term as CONCACAF President.
Guatemala hosted a FIFA Futuro 111 referee instructors course from 1 -7 July in Guatemala City. The course was attended by 26 referee instructors from Costa Rica, Cuba, El Salvador, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama and Puerto Rico The six-day course was conducted by FIFA instructors Fernando Tresaco Gracia of Spain, Ronald Gutierrez of Costa Rica, Rodolfo Sibrian of El Salvador, and Peter Prendergast of Jamaica.
The USA won the inaugural CONCACAF Women’s Under-17 Championship 2008 by defeating Costa Rica 4-1 in the final at the Marvin Lee Stadium in Macoya, Trinidad and Tobago on 27 July In the third-place encounter, Canada posted a 1-0 win over Mexico. Canada, Costa Rica and the USA all qualified as the CONCACAF representatives to the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup New Zealand 2008.

Marcelino Fransch scored both goals as South Africa retained their Cosafa Senior Challenge Cup in August, defeating Mozambique 2-1 in the
final inThulamahashe. Fransch had South Africa 1-0 up at half-time, snapping up a rebound off the upright after a speculative cross-cum-shot from Lefa Tsutsulupa had caught Mozambique goalkeeper Marcelino out of position. The rebound sat up perfectly for Cape Town-based Fransch, who needed no second invitation. From close range, Fransch added a second goal on the hour mark after poor defending from the Mozambicans, who had dominated play but failed to set up any real scoring opportunities. The striker hammered home a left-footed shot to effectively hand South Africa their third Cosafa Senior Challenge title. They now join Angola, Zambia and Zimbabwe as triple winners of the annual southern African championship. Mozambique got a consolation goal three minutes into stoppage time at the end of the game when captain Tico-Tico’s trickery in the penalty area set up an easy tap-in for substitute Txuma. Tsutsulupa was named the best player of the tournament. Zambia, who were edged out by South Africa in last year’s final, beat Madagascar 2-0 to take third place.
Ocean Boys will represent Nigeria
in next year’s CAF Confederation Cup after they defeated Gombe United 7-6 on penalties in the Nigerian FA Cup in July. Spot kicks were required after the sides were inseparable at 2-2 at the Aper Aku Stadium in Makurdi, north-central Nigeria, with goalkeeper Ikechukwu Ezenwa the Cup hero when he tucked home the winning kick for Ocean Boys. In the third-place match of the Cup competition, Nasarawa United beat Enyimba 1-0.

Twenty-five newly-qualified coaches from 17 AFC member associations will get employment contracts from their respective associations as part of the AFC’s AID-27 programme. As part of the integrated development strategy under Vision Asia, the AFC will fund the employment of coaches from the confederation’s “C” certificate courses held in conjunction with the five regional AFC U-14 Festivals of Football. Iraq and Tajikistan recently became the first associations to complete the procedures for their coaches. The AFC AID-27 programme provides financial assistance to 27 eligible member associations to employ coaches for all their non-senior national teams and for regional development programmes focused on grassroots and youth football. Currently 20 member associations are active in the scheme. Under the programme, the associations are obliged to send young participants to the coaching certificate courses held during the AFC Festivals of Football and subsequently to employ those who pass the course for a period of one year. This strategy is part of the AFC’s policy to identify potential future elite coaches at a young age and provide a path for their development. Only candidates who are former players and 30 years of age or less are entitled to participate in the coaching courses at the festivals. Apart from Iraq and Tajikistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, DPR Korea, Guam, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Syria, Uzbekistan and Yemen are set to benefit from this programme.
Football’s community spirit came to the fore recently in Chengdu when a friendly match organised by the Chengdu City League raised funds for the Sichuan earthquake relief operations. The disaster last May saw 69,197 people confirmed dead and 374,176 injured. The match was played between the “All-Star South” and “All-Star North” with three players each from the 12 Chengdu League clubs showing off their skills in front of a sizeable crowd. The team from the South won 4-1 but the biggest incentive was the collection by the fans and players of RMB 7,650 (USD 1,100) which were given for the relief and rebuilding operations in Sichuan.