by Kristen Ku
BELIZE CITY, Mon. May 27, 2024
Today the Football Federation of Belize (FFB) announced that its President, Mr. Sergio Chuc, has been elected as Vice President of CONCACAF for the Central American region.
This historic election took place during the 39th CONCACAF Ordinary Congress in Guadalupe on May 25th, as 40 of the 41 CONCACAF federations gathered in attendance.
“It’s a feeling of accomplishment, basically, that the work that I’ve put in over the last many years into football is being recognized, not only locally, but also in the region. And not only recognized, but also respected,” Chuc told Amandala today.
Mr. Chuc’s new role as Vice President of CONCACAF is expected to bring considerable benefits to Belizean football. He explained that his focus would be on improving the Confederation itself, which would inevitably benefit Belize.
“Of course, that will trickle down to Belize, since we rely heavily on the subsidy of FIFA, and now to a greater extent of CONCACAF,” he noted. This is particularly important as CONCACAF has been a significant financial supporter of Belize’s football initiatives over the past several years.
The election process was marked by strong regional support, as Mr. Chuc was the sole candidate put forward by the seven Central American countries, with unanimous backing from the Caribbean and North American nations.
“Basically, what happened is that at a meeting we had earlier this year in Guatemala City, the 7 countries got together and decided that we are going to put one candidate forward, and that would have been myself,” he explained. “… then we got a unanimous decision that it was a mere endorsement. Nobody else outside our region nominated anybody else to run against me.”
Accompanying Mr. Chuc were the FFB’s vice president, Mr. Onan McLean, and Executive member, Mrs. Jacqueline Pelayo.
As Mr. Chuc takes on this new responsibility, he remains committed to advancing football in Belize as he carefully expressed, “At the end of the day, my heart is with Belize, and whatever we could do from CONCACAF to assist Belize, it’s human nature that I will push this direction to have the sport continue to grow and continue to improve, especially with the youths where we are focusing right now.”