JAMAICA stands to benefit economically from its historic hosting of two CONCACAF Gold Cup matches on Monday, June 17.

That was the assessment of CONCACAF president Victor Montagliani on Tuesday, shortly after he announced at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in Kingston that for the first time in 15 tournaments, a Caribbean country will host matches in the Caribbean.

Two Group C matches, featuring two-time finalists Jamaica, Honduras and two other teams that will become known during the Gold Cup draw on April 10 in Los Angeles, will be played inside Kingston’s National Stadium.

Moreover, beyond making history, the land of the Reggae Boyz will enjoy other benefits as well.
“Well, first you’re going to have a lot of eyeballs on the matches from all over the world, not just a confederation audience but also an international audience. You’re going to have fans coming in, obviously the teams and their delegations coming and then you have VIPs,” he said.

“I don’t have the exact number, but the economic impact to the region, to the city, to the country is quite significant because they will be here for three days, four days leading up to the match and so it’s not just the matches, there are training sessions, media sessions, so the impact is quite significant.”

He said the idea to award Jamaica the matches is also in keeping with the mandate to reward the growth of the sport in the region, plus the country’s burgeoning reputation as a football power.

“The first decision as soon as I became CONCACAF president was I felt we had the quality in the region to increase it (the Gold Cup) from 12 to 16 teams.

“I saw some of the results. I saw some of the results from the last Gold Cup by some of the debutants, Curacao being one of them. And now what has happened in the Nations League, we saw some of the teams that qualified for the Gold Cup for the first time, like Bermuda, my intimation of that was correct,” Montagliani said.

“The second was I always thought the way to increase the level not just on the field but off the field was to bring events.

“Events that build capacity are the bigger events. That is where you get the attention of governments, of commercial partners, the corporate sector and so I thought it was important to bring the Gold Cup to the Caribbean. It’s never been done before. We know Jamaica’s long history, not only in the region but in the world. It was just a natural fit to bring the Gold Cup to Jamaica.”