President Sends Best Wishes To Concacaf Teams
Concacaf President and FIFA Vice President Victor Montagliani has sent best wishes to all four of the region’s men’s national teams – Canada, Costa Rica, Mexico and the United States – who are competing in the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.
Mr. Montagliani said, “On behalf of everyone at Concacaf, I want to wish the very best of luck to the men’s national teams of Canada, Costa Rica, Mexico and the United States ahead of their opening FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 matches. This tournament will be a festival of football enjoyed by millions of fans across the world and I know that the teams from our region will represent Concacaf with pride. All four of them delivered excellent football in the qualification rounds and I look forward with great anticipation to seeing them compete on the pitch in Qatar.
“The four federations deserve huge credit for reaching the FIFA World Cup 2022 – the pinnacle of international football – and the focus now is rightly on their players and coaches who will compete on world football’s biggest stage. We also recognize the journey that brought us to this point, and I want to commend all of the Concacaf member associations for competing in the Concacaf Qualifiers that led to these FIFA World Cup Finals in Qatar.
“In this four-year international match cycle [2018-2022] we have prioritized putting football first in our confederation. We are proud of the work we have undertaken, which has only been possible because of steadfast support and commitment from our member associations and partners. The launch of the Concacaf Nations League, the expansion of the Gold Cup, and the delivery of a more inclusive Concacaf region FIFA World Cup Qualifiers have significantly enhanced the level of competition for all Concacaf federations and their teams.
“In addition to the four Concacaf region men’s national teams competing in Qatar, we must also acknowledge and congratulate the 19 Concacaf referees and match officials who have been selected to officiate in this competition. For the first time in a men’s FIFA World Cup, women’s referees have been appointed and it is a testament to the high standards in our region that two of them, assistant referees Karen Diaz Medina of Mexico and Kathryn Nesbitt of USA, are from the Concacaf refereeing group. Top level referees from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Mexico and the United States will be officiating FIFA World Cup matches in Qatar, and assistant referees from 10 Concacaf federations will join them, including officials from the Dominican Republic and Suriname.
“I want to wish all the players from Canada, Costa Rica, Mexico and the USA the very best in this World Cup. They have the opportunity to make their mark on football history and it will be a privilege to watch them on the pitch in Qatar. Finally, to the fans from our region traveling to the tournament, or following your team from home, your passionate support is what makes the FIFA World Cup so special. Thank you and enjoy it.”
