Costa Rica ‘no’ to hosting
November 4th, 2008 | by admin |The Central American Football Union (UNCAF) are looking for a new host nation for next year’s Nations Cup after the withdrawal of Panama, but Costa Rica appears unlikely to be the answer.
Last weekend, the Panamanian Football Federation (FePaFut) admitted they cannot host the biennial tournament – which doubles as a qualifying for the CONCACAF Gold Cup – due to a lack of a suitable stadia.
The Estadio Rommel Fernandez, which was initially considered to host the championship to be played between January 22 and February 1, is undergoing a revamp and will not be ready in time.
The alternative of the Estadio Nacional Rod Carew also appears not to be an option after negotiations between the FePaFut, the UNCAF, the company Traffic and the owners of the stadium failed.
On Monday, a press released on uncaf.net read: “The UNCAF will analyse other options to host the UNCAF Nations Cup and will call the executive committee for a meeting to define the new venue shortly.”
Costa Rica were seen by many as favourites to take over organising the championship which also includes Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua, but the country’s football federation announced on Monday that they would find it very difficult to afford the tournament.
“So far, we have no official communication from organisers and, on our own, it is not possible to contemplate the organisation of the Nations Cup as the necessary budget for this type of tournament is too high,” Costa Rican Football Federation secretary general Joseph Ramirez told the body’s website.
