Harold Mayne-Nicholls, President of the Chilean football association and FIFA’s Goal Programme representative in South America, carried out an inspection visit to the site on which the Ecuadorian national team headquarters are to be built in Quito, Ecuador. Located in the Monte Olivo district, the long-awaited headquarters will house the training centre for the Ecuadorian national teams. Work has begun on filling and levelling the site. Inaugurated in 2004, the Ecuadorian House of Football (the association’s headquarters) is a modern building located in Guayaquil. Both construction projects were set in motion by the President of the Ecuadorian football association, Luis Chiriboga, who has been in office since 1998.

In Argentina, the Apertura Interior (Reaching out to the Provinces) project, launched by the Argentinian football association (AFA), has started to yield results sooner than expected. Two players from the association’s centres of excellence have been selected for the U-15 national team ahead of the next South American championship for that age category. Marcos de Martin, a forward from the city of Parana, Entre Rios, and Denis Oscar Gomez, a midfielder born in Resistencia, Chaco, have been called up by coach Hector Enrique. Under this project, centres for developing, training and spotting new talent are being established in various parts of the country. In view of Argentina’s vast size, the objective of the project is for the AFA’s technical teams to focus not only on Buenos Aires, but to travel to the provinces, where coordinators have been designated to select skilled young players and train them in their local areas. As well as Entre Rios and Chaco, the Apertura Interior initiative is being run in the provinces of Salta, Mendoza, Cordoba and Chubut, and there are plans to extend the project further.

Following Jorge Luis Pinto’s dismissal as coach of the Colombian national team, Eduardo Lara has been appointed as caretaker coach for the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ qualifiers against Paraguay and Brazil Lara has been on the staff of the Colombian football association for a number of years and is in charge of the national youth teams.

Seven CONCACAF referees took part in the FIFA Elite Referee Seminar II at the Home of FIFA in Zurich on 23-26 September. Joel Aguilar (El Salvador), Benito Armando Archundia (Mexico), Carlos Batres (Guatemala), Jair Marrufo (USA), Roberto Moreno (Panama), Marco Rodriguez (Mexico) and Enrico Wijngaarde(Suriname) joined 47 other referees at the seminar, the purpose of which was to evaluate them for possible selection for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™.

Ronald Jones was re-elected as President of the Barbados Football Association during the annual general meeting at the Barbados Workers Union Headquarters in St Michael’s on 28 September. Jones defeated Sherlock Yarde 81 -60 for a term that will expire in 2012. Also at the annual general meeting, Yarde was elected Senior Vice-President, while Basil Gittens was chosen as Junior Vice-President and Curtis Hunte was elected treasurer.

The women’s team of Anguilla posted a win and a draw against hosts the US Virgin Islands in a two-game friendly
series in St Croix in late August. Jaynelie Lake scored twice for Anguilla, while Zauditu Amlak Kaza and Sydnei Rogers answered for the US Virgin Islands in the 2-2 draw in the first encounter at the St Croix Educational Complex Ground on 29 August. Two days later, Shanelle Browne scored the only goal of the match for Anguilla in their 1-0 win at St Croix’s Schjang Grounds. The victory was the Soccer Dolphins’ first since they defeated Antigua and Barbuda 1 -0 in a friendly in Sf John’s on 29 August 2004.

CAF President Issa Hayatou and the African football family are saddened by the death of Orok Oyo Orok, CAF Honorary Vice-President. The 86-year-old football leader died on 10 September in his home town of Calabar, Nigeria. Oyo was general secretary of the Nigeria Football Association from 1960 to 1974, and also served on both the CAF and FIFA Executive Committees. “Oyo was a great visionary leader and also an encyclopaedia of football, we will miss him terribly. ‘Mr Football’, as he was known locally and internationally, was a regular contributor in our meetings, with great ideas,” said Hayatou, who also described Oyo as “truly someone who dedicated his life to the service of football, locally and internationally”.

The CAF Executive Committee concluded its two-day meeting on 19 September at CAF headquarters in Cairo, Egypt. The board received a positive report on Angola’s preparations to host the Africa Cup of Nations in January 2010 based on a recent visit by a CAF inspection team to assess progress in the construction of football-related facilities and accommodation. The Executive Committee expressed its satisfaction with the inspection report on the hosting facilities for the African Youth Championship in Rwanda, which will be held from ISJanuaryto 1 February 2009. The Executive Committee also welcomed the report presented by the head of the CAF inspection team that recently visited Cote d’lvoire to assess the country’s readiness to host the first edition of the African Nations Championship (CHAN), which will take place between 22 February and 8 March 2009. The number of teams participating in the CHAN final tournament will increase from eight in the first year to 16 in 2011. Sudan will host the second edition of CHAN.