CONCACAF to hold Olympic Qualification draw

The Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) announced that the draw for the Women’s Olympic Qualifications Tournament will take place next Tuesday 18 December 2007 in New York, NY. The draw is expected to seed the six qualified teams into two groups for next April’s tournament.



The CONCACAF Olympic Qualification Tournament will take place 2-13 April 2008 in Chihuahua, Mexico. Hosts Mexico will be joined by Canada, the United States, Costa Rica, Trinidad & Tobago and recently-qualified Jamaica. The top-two teams in the tournament will advance to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.



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 Mexico were the two teams that advanced out of the CONCACAF region. In 1996 and 2000, only the United States represented CONCACAF.



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.



Also next Tuesday 18 December, CONCACAF will post the results of the draws for the CONCACAF Champions’ Cup, the CONCACAF Under-23 Championship, the CONCACAF Women’s Under-20 Championship, and the CONCACAF Women’s U-17 Championships.