Two-time defending Elite League champions Fruta Conquerors will not be a participant in the 2020 Caribbean Club Shield, the second tier tournament of the Caribbean Club Championship as the regional confederation CONCACAF finalizes plans to resume their club competitions in the near future.
This was disclosed by an official release from the confederation.
According to the release, “Concacaf has today agreed a plan to resume the Confederation’s club competitions across the region. Due to the COVID-19 crisis, the Confederation suspended several competitions and, in some cases, postponed start dates. Following approval from the Concacaf Council, Concacaf can now provide a detailed update on the 2020 Concacaf Caribbean Club Shield, the 2020 Flow Caribbean Club Championship and the 2020 Scotiabank Concacaf League.”
The correspondence added, “The Concacaf Caribbean Club Shield was due to take in place in April in Curacao but was suspended. Concacaf is working with the relevant clubs, and with the Curacao Football Federation, to determine if the competition can be played in mid-September. A final decision will be communicated by Concacaf by the end of August.”
The competing teams in the Caribbean Club Shield are Liberta (Antigua and Barbuda), Racing Club (Aruba), Defence Force (Barbados), Real Rincon (Bonaire), One Live United (BVI), Scholars International (Cayman Islands), Santiago de Cuba (Cuba), Vesta (Curacao), South East (Dominica), Amical Club (Guadeloupe), Club Franciscain (Martinique), Metropolitan (Puerto Rico), Platinum FC (Saint Lucia), BESCO Pastures (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines) and Inter Moengotapoe (Suriname). Defending champion Robin Hood of Suriname will be unable to defend their title as they failed to qualify for this edition.
The 2020 Caribbean Club Shield, which is in its third edition and is also known as the CFU Club Shield, is staged annually and features clubs from associations affiliated to the Caribbean Football Union (CFU), a sub-confederation under the jurisdiction of CONCACAF. The event was initially scheduled to be hosted in Curacao from April 3rd-12th. However, the competition was postponed on March 13th, as CONCACAF suspended all competitions due to the covid-19 pandemic.
The eventual winner of the CONCACAF Club Shield, once they fulfill the CONCACAF Regional Club Licensing Criteria, will face-off against the fourth placed team of the 2020 CONCACAF Caribbean Club Championship in a playoff match to determine the final Caribbean berth to the 2020 CONCACAF Champions League.
The Caribbean Club Shield, which is directly supervised and administered by CONCACAF, was introduced in 2018 for non-professional leagues which are striving towards professional standards.
