CONCACAF postpones draws

The Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) has announced that the draw for the Women’s Olympic Qualification Tournament has been postponed until January 2008. CONCACAF also postponed draws for the CONCACAF Women’s Under-20 Championship and the CONCACAF Women’s Under-17 Championship.



The draws for the CONCACAF Under-23 Championship (men’s Olympic qualification) and CONCACAF Champions’ Cup will take place on Tuesday 18 January as previously scheduled. Results from the draw will be announced at 14.00 (ET).



The three women’s tournaments have been rescheduled “due to venue finalization for all three respective CONCACAF tournaments next year”. CONCACAF had announced that the Women’s Olympic Qualification Tournament would take place in Chihuahua, México from 2-13 April 2008. Dates and locations have yet to be announced for the U-20 and U-17 tournaments, although both are expected to take place after April.



Canada’s women’s national team is looking to qualify for the Olympic Football Tournament for the first time in association history. In 2004, the United States and México were the two teams that advanced out of the CONCACAF region. In 1996 and 2000, only the United States represented CONCACAF. In 2008, hosts México will compete against Canada, the United States, Costa Rica, Trinidad & Tobago and Jamaica in the CONCACAF Olympic Qualification Tournament. The top-two teams in the tournament will advance to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.



Canada’s senior women’s team, whose title sponsor is Winners, is currently in phase one of their preparations for the 2008 Olympic qualifications. In 2007, the Canadian women’s program reached an all-time high in the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Rankings – ninth best in the world. The team is the second-highest ranked CONCACAF team behind the United States.