Two teams withdraw from Caribbean club cup, draw format restructured

Instead of two pools of six teams each for Thursday’s draw at CONCACAF’s New York headquarters, the first round will consist of five teams in each pool, drawn against each other for two legs March 18 and March 25. Also Thursday, the five first-round winners will be joined by San Juan Jabloteh of Trinidad and drawn against each other in another round of home-and-away matches to be played April 13 and April 20.

The three second-round winners will be combined with the Puerto Rico Islanders for single-game semifinals on May 15 in Trinidad & Tobago. The single-game final will be played two days later in Trinidad. The draw for the semifinals will be conducted after the second round is complete.

Originally, 12 teams were to be divided into two pools, with a club from Pool 1 drawn against a side from Pool 2. The six winners were then to be joined by San Juan Jabloteh and the Islanders for four quarterfinal two-leg pairings.

Portmore and SV Racing withdrew on Tuesday, citing issues such as cost and stadium deficiencies. Three teams from the Caribbean cup advance to next year’s CONCACAF Champions League.

DRAW FORMAT

First Round

Pool 1

W. Connection (Trinidad)

Greenbay Hoppers (Antigua & Barbuda)

Inter Moengo Tapoe (Suriname)

Tempete FC (Haiti)

Cavaly SA (Haiti)

Pool 2

Sevilla FC (Puerto Rico)

SV Britannia (Aruba)

Alpha United (Guyana)

Centre Bath Estate (Dominica)

CSD Barber (Netherlands Antilles)

Second Round

Pool 1

San Juan Jabloteh (Trinidad)

Winner 1

Winner 2

Pool 2

Winner 3

Winner 4

Winner 5

Semifinals

(Draw to be conducted after second round)

Puerto Rico Islanders vs. second-round winner

Second-round winner vs. second-round winner

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