Warner calls on regional gov'ts to invest in football

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/sports/html/20070613T220000-0500_124312_OBS_WARNER_CALLS_ON_REGIONAL_GOV_TS_TO_INVEST_IN_FOOTBALL.asp

This call by Jack Warner is a very timely one. You can read excerpts of what he said by clicking on the following Jamaica Observer link.

Anyway back to what he said. He said that "Caribbean governments should not depend solely on sponsorship from private corporate entities for the development of football in the region... governments must now put infrastructure in place to assist... stadiums, practice pitches, training camps that can help" in the development of football in the region. The call made by Mr. Warner has my total support. Without the commitment of regional governments to the development of not only football but all form of sport in the region, no real meaningful development will take place. Maybe it will be that governments will not be able to fund building of stadia, but what they can do is to create an environment where the private will find it profitable to engage in such activities. For example, they could offer tax breaks or tax holidays on investments in the sports sector. Consider some facts, football worldwide generates hundreds of billions of dollars annually; sports is a part of the entertainment industry and is the second largest sector in this industry with tourism being the largest. It is also being recognized in many countries, for example Australia, that sports tourism is one of the fastest growing segments in the tourism sector. Even the Caribbean has recognized this and hence the effort that went into hosting the Cricket World Cup 2007.
However, one factor that greatly hampers the development of sports in the region is the lack of an expressed policy document related to sports. The European Union (http://www.euractiv.com/en/sports) is involved in developing policies related to sports and so is Australia. This helps to provide certainty and encourages people to get involved. This needs to be done in the Caribbean. Mr. Warner's call is therefore very timely indeed.