Technocrats from FIFA offices arrived in St Vincent and the Grenadines on Tuesday, July 19th for a two-day visit.
The delegation consisted of; FIFA Regional Manager for the Caribbean – Alejandro Calvente, Regional Office Development Manager- Herve Blanchard, Regional Office Development Coordinator -Jordan Victoire, and FIFA Infrastructure Consultant- David Rosa.
The agenda included visits to the Brighton Technical Center, The Proposed Stadium site at Cane Grove, and meetings with the SVGFF Executive committee and Government
Representatives.
On Tuesday 19th July, at a meeting hosted by Acting Prime Minister- Hon Saboto Caesar,
Minister of Sports- Hon. Frederick Stephenson and Minister of Finance- Hon. Camillo
Gonsalves, the delegation along with President of the SVGFF, Mr. Carl Dickson, and General Secretary, Mr. Devron Poyer, discussed issues relative to logistical support, concessions or waivers, and permits that may be required to advance the project at various stages.
Immediately following the meeting, the delegation traveled to the five (5) acre site in Cane Grove and conducted a walkthrough.
On Wednesday 20th July, the members visited the Brighton Technical Centre, where the local Executive Committee identified some areas of further development required to complement the recent work completed at the site. This includes the restoration and retrofitting of an existing building to increase hosting capacity at the location.
President Carl Dickson expressed his appreciation for the ”firm support being afforded to the local executive by our FIFA counterparts and specifically the interest and commitment being demonstrated by the team in assisting us to meet our established timelines” He also intimated that the visit was designed to “identify the components of the project that would comprise phase zero such as permits, architectural drawings, comets and bidding documents to be used to facilitate the selection process”.
The project will be completed in a phased manner and will include a Full-size International Football Field, a Futsal facility as well a Technical Centre, which will be equipped with amenities to accommodate four teams and officials.
On completion, the facility will complement the existing Technical Centre at Brighton, which currently serves as a training facility equipped with dormitories for national teams, during preparation for regional as well as international tournaments.
This project is being funded under the FIFA Forward initiative.