By BVI Football Association
BVI Football Association President, Mr. Andy Bickerton, Mrs. Julianna Luke (BVIFA General Secretary) and Mr. Avanel Morton (BVIFA Vice President). Photo: BVIFA
The BVI Football Association President, Mr. Andy Bickerton has expressed optimism and confidence following the inaugural CONCACAF Nations League Draw held in Miami, Florida.
The Senior Men’s team will be facing Martinique, Suriname, Bonaire and the Turks and Caicos in the Nations League qualifying rounds, with the first fixture, against Martinique, scheduled for September 18th, 2018.
Further games will follow on October 18th (Suriname) and then an enticing home game against Bonaire on November 18th, before the final game, also at home, features the Turks and Caicos.
“It’s a good draw for us as we are confident we can be competitive in each game, especially the two home games, given we can use the A.O. Shirley Ground,” commented Bickerton.
The CONCACAF Nations League begins in September with a one-off qualifying phase, while the group phase, consisting of three tiered leagues, will kick off in 2019.
The top league will end with a Final to crown the Nations League champion, and the competition will also serve to unify the qualifying path for the region’s national teams to the newly expanded Gold Cup.
League A will contain four groups of three teams. The winners of each League A group will qualify to the CONCACAF Nations League Final Championship, which will determine the champion of the new competition. The teams at the bottom of each League A group will be relegated to League B for the next edition of the tournament.
League B will contain four groups of four teams. The winner of each League B group will be promoted to League A, and the bottom team of each League B group will be relegated to League C for the next edition.
League C will consist of the remaining MAs divided into four groups. The winner of each League C group will be promoted to League B.
The first edition of the CONCACAF Nations League will begin with a one-off CONCACAF Nations League Qualifying phase, which will determine which teams are assigned to each league.
By virtue of having qualified for the Hexagonal Round of the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers Russia 2018, Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, the United States and Trinidad & Tobago have earned the right to be seeded directly into League A and therefore will not participate in Nations League qualifyiers.
