December 13 – Speaking at Concacaf’s annual President’s Meeting in Orlando, FL, USA, last weekend, Concacaf president Victor Montagliani, reminded his member associations how far the organization has come over the past eight years.

This is a transformation from Concacaf which was almost branded as a criminal organization when the US Department of Justice and the FBI raided FIFA, arresting then-Concacaf president Jeff Webb and executive committee member Eduardo Li before the FIFA Congress in 2015, to 2024 and a confederation whose members now play international games are more competitive than ever before, have reformed their operations and bylaws, and are united to win the 2026 World Cup to host.

“Now that we have been on an eight-year journey to unite as One Concacaf, where we put football’s fiscal, moral and house in order, we have earned the respect of the global football community,” said Montagliani.

“We have reached this point through hard work, supported by the commitment of our Member Associations. I take my hat off to them (Members Association); they keep going, and they keep going because they know how important it is to work together.”

The essence of this transformation is a focus on building competition and getting federations to play regularly.

The Concacaf Nations League has become a driver of the new calendar, creating more competitive opportunities across the confederation for men’s national teams. This is now being applied to the women’s game. At the same time the Concacaf club competition has been transformed and expanded.

The new competitive structure not only creates opportunities to increase performance levels and develop talent, but also brings major changes to Concacaf’s commercial proposition. This in turn has resulted in significantly more support for its member federations.

Prior to 2015 most Concacaf federations relied on FIFA grants to maintain the game in their countries. Concacaf now gives its federation more money than FIFA gave in 2015.

The new competition structure also gives the FA more domestic relevance and greater opportunities to involve local sponsors – a tough sell on a sponsorship program that for many means a World Cup qualifying match every four years.

Concacaf further expands the Nations League with the introduction of the Concacaf Nations League Finals for Leagues B and C – starting in the 2026/27 edition.

Montagliani also announced the launch of the Concacaf Academy in 2025, an educational program to help member associations develop talent off the pitch.

“Building on the success of the Confederation Executive Mentorship Program, which was launched in 2019 and has enhanced senior leadership skills within Member Associations, we will now take professional learning to the next level with the launch of the Concacaf Academy,” said Montagliani. .

“The innovative online and face-to-face platform will be available to the staff of all Concacaf Member Associations and focus on three important pillars: Leadership, Administration and Football.”

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