The Caribbean Football Union (CFU) has added an extra round of qualifying to determine the teams it will send to the Women’s Gold Cup later this year.
With CONCACAF expanding the field of its championship from six to eight teams - and the Caribbean’s number of berths from two to three, the CFU said it will take the top two finishers from each second-round qualifying group to play a third league phase to decide its participants.
No venue or dates were announced. The Women’s Gold Cup is scheduled for late October-early November. Additionally, the CFU said the second-round group of matches originally slated for Cuba has been moved to Trinidad.
Initially set to be played simultaneously with Group F, already scheduled for Trinidad, Group G will be played on alternate days with its regional counterpart beginning May 10. Group “F” will be moved from Manny Ramjohn Stadium in Marabella to Marvin Lee Stadium in Macoya.
Group “G” will then play all of its matches in Marabella. The changes were necessary due to Antigua and Barbuda’s limited availability in obtaining flights to Cuba.
While changing its procedures for the Women’s Gold Cup, the CFU left intact its method of determining its berths for the Central American and Caribbean Games in Puerto Rico. As previously announced, the second- round group winners, Puerto Rico and the best second-place team all will qualify for the CAC Games in Mayaguez in July.
Women’s Gold Cup— Caribbean Qualifying— Second Round: Group F At Macoya, Trinidad Monday, May 10 Guyana vs Barbados Trinidad vs St. Lucia Wednesday, May 12 St. Lucia vs Guyana Trinidad vs Barbados Friday, May 14 Barbados vs St. Lucia Trinidad vs Guyana Group G At Marabella, Trinidad Tuesday, May 11 Cuba vs Puerto Rico Antigua and Barbuda vs. Haiti Thursday, May 13 Haiti vs Cuba Puerto Rico vs Antigua and Barbuda Saturday, May 15 Haiti vs Puerto Rico Cuba vs. Antigua and Barbuda.