rance’s last remaining territory
in North America, the tiny island
chain of St Pierre & Miquelon,
wants to join CONCACAF, despite
the islands having a population of
less than 6,000 and limited
opportunities for the three clubs which have
contested the local league since 1976.
Junior sides take a boat to compete in Canada’s
Newfoundland Cup and a side from the islands did go
to Paris to compete in the Overseas
Cup, but that ended in 2012.
Clubs from other French holdings,
from Tahiti to the Caribbean, have
played in the Coupe de France for
years, but attempts to enter a club
from St Pierre & Miquelon had always
been rebuffed – until the French
Football Federation (FFF) finally
relented last season.
AS Saint Pierraise beat AS Ilienne Amateurs
and AS Miquelonnaise in a domestic qualifying
competition to take the islands’ first-ever place in the
tournament, but ambitions were realistic. As Herve
Huet, president of the domestic league, explains:
“[Our sides’] integration is done in the third round, not
the seventh round like the other departments and
territories of the Outremer. This is due to our level
which is well below other ultramarine teams.”
AS Saint Pierraise lost 2-1 to ALC Longvic from
Dijon last term, while this season AS Ilienne Amateurs
were beaten 5-1 by FC Lyon. However, the FFF wantsto stimulate the game in the last remnant of its once
vast North American holdings and the rising standard
of the game in the territories was demonstrated in
this season’s cup campaign by JS Saint-Pierroise from
Reunion, who beat Ligue 2 side Niort 2-1 to become
only the second overseas team to reach the last 32.
In October the St Pierre league was granted
associate membership of the Newfoundland &
Labrador Soccer Association but Huet has bigger
aspirations. With new policies in place, a bid to joinCONCACAF is also being sought and Huet says:
“The process has started. The bodies of the FFF must
meet its president to discuss our integration. I hope to
have news for the month of May 2020.”
If that meeting with CONCACAF president Vincent
Montagliani goes well, the St Pierre & Miquelon
representative side could also be revived.
They lost all seven matches in the 2010 and
2012 editions of the Overseas Cup and further
defeats would surely follow in the bottom rung of
CONCACAF’s Nations League, but St Pierre &
Miquelon’s footballers would at least have been
brought in from the cold.Tiny islands
with big plans
After French Cup entry, CONCACAF membership is next
in south-west Nigeria.
Sunday February 23
EGYPT: Following a brawl at the
end of Thursday’s Egyptian Super
Cup, in which Zamalek beat Al Ahly
on penalties, six players are banned
by the FA, with Mahmoud Kahraba
of Al Ahly and Zamalek’s Imam
Ashour suspended for the rest of
the season.
FRANCE: Neymar is sent off as
Paris Saint-Germain beat Bordeaux
4-3, with Edinson Cavani becoming
the first player to score 200 goals
for PSG.
TURKEY: In a derby clash that sees
12 bookings and three red cards,
Galatasaray beat Fenerbahce 3-1
to register their first win away to
their Istanbul rivals since 1999.
Monday February 24
EGYPT: The day after sanctions
were handed to players and officials
from both clubs following a brawl in
the Egyptian Super Cup, Zamalek
WORLD SERVICE
Fierce...Fenerbahce (blue) v GalatasarayF
Success...Zamalek
captain Shikabala with
the Egyptian Super CupDebut...AS Ilienne
Amateurs (in yellow)
in this season’s Coupe
de France“The process has started. The bodies
of the FFF must meet its president to
discuss our integration. I hope to have
news for the month of May 2020”
Herve Huet on joining CONCACAFSt Pierre
& Miquelon
STEVE MENARY