Kwesi Mugisa, Staff Reporter

CURACAO:

A RECORD 25 teams are expected to take part in this year's rebranded Digicel Caribbean Championships which, along with a name change, hope to adopt several positive aspects from successful European Championships model.

The competition, formerly known as the Digicel Caribbean Cup, and now in its fourth year, was launched at the Marriott Hotel here yesterday.

"The position with the name change, suggested by President (Jack) Warner, was to try and reflect the magnitude of this year's tournament," said Kieran Foley, head of sponsorship for Digicel.

European model

"The European championships really caught people's attention about the size and the importance of that tournament. We feel no different about our tournament, which is essentially the equivalent of what went on in Europe," he said of the regional competition. In addition to an increased number of games, which will see eight nations hosting 10 groups, the title sponsor also spoke about aggressive country-specific marketing campaigns geared towards attracting as many fans as possible to each local game.

The competition will kick off at Curacao's Ergilio Hato Stadium with the Netherland Antilles taking on Grenada in Group A, which also includes Dominica, on July 27.

The tournament will run for five months and consist of three stages. The winners and runners-up of groups A, B, C, D and E, which make up stage one of the tournament, will advance to stage two, where they will be placed alongside seeded teams Trinidad and Tobago, Cuba and Guadeloupe in groups F, G and H.

Final stage

The top teams and second-placed sides from F, G and H will advance to the final stage where Haiti, who have secured their place in the third stage by virtue of being defending champions and Jamaica, who are the hosts, await. Stage three, which will be split into groups, I and J, will be held at Jamaica's National Stadium in December.

FIFA vice president and president of Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Jack Warner thanked the telecommunications company for its continued involvement in the sport of football.

"There are no adequate words that we will ever be able to find to thank them for their sponsorship over the years," Warner said.