CONCACAF has canceled the remainder of the 2009 CONCACAF Men’s Under-17 Championship in Tijuana, Mexico, but not before adding four teams to the FIFA U-17 World Cup Nigeria 2009 field. Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico and USA all qualified for the FIFA U-17 World Cup through the preliminary stage of the competition at Estadio Caliente.

The championship round was canceled due to the growing concerns about the outbreak of swine flu in Mexico. Mexican authorities had previously closed schools in Ciudad Mexico before extending the decision on Monday to all schools across the country. CONCACAF responded to safeguard the health of players, officials and fans.

The FIFA U-17 World Cup Nigeria 2009 runs 24 October to 15 November. Fourteen of the 24 spots have now been filled for the FIFA U-17 World Cup. Along with the four CONCACAF nations, host Nigeria, Africa’s Algeria, Burkina Faso, Gambia, Malawi, Asia’s Iran, Japan, Korea Republic, United Arab Emirates, and Oceania’s New Zealand have all qualified.

Canada’s men’s U-17 team was eliminated after it finished fourth in Group A of the preliminary stage of the FIFA U-17 World Cup. The team left Tijuana on Sunday morning before CONCACAF canceled the tournament.