Saint Pierre and Miquelon to join CONCACAF

[Zem]

For those who might not be aware, Saint Pierre and Miquelon is a small French island territory of about 6,000 people located 25 km off the coast of Newfoundland's Burin Peninsula.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Pierre_and_Miquelon

Last month, the archipelago's new FFF-appointed technical advisor announced that he was going to pursue CONCACAF membership for the territory, which would make it the second-smallest nation in CONCACAF ahead of only Montserrat.

http://www.conifa.org/en/2019/10/29/saint-pierre-and-miquelon-to-build-a-ground-with-an-artificial-pitch-and-join-concacaf/

This would mean they could play in Nations League and also means that the champion of the territory's three-club league could compete in the Caribbean Club Shield. Previously, the territory's only competitive matches as a national team were at the 2010 and 2012 Coupe de l'Outre-Mer, a tournament for French overseas territories, where they lost all seven of their games and were outscored by a total of 78-2 (their best result was a 7-0 loss to French Guiana in 2010).

Travel costs could be a serious concern (the FFF would presumably help out in that regard), but if they can manage it I'd be super excited to see them playing international football, especially since I might be able to catch some Nations League C action in person!

Edited November 23, 2019 by Zem

[MM3/MM2/MM]

Too bad they aren't already in CONCACAF, we could play them 10 times in NFLD with a Canadian team of CanPl players to gain points😎 or would they be Non-FIFA and therefore no points would be available?

[Zem]

17 minutes ago, MM3/MM2/MM said:

Too bad they aren't already in CONCACAF, we could play them 10 times in NFLD with a Canadian team of CanPl players to gain points😎 or would they be Non-FIFA and therefore no points would be available?

They would be non-FIFA, most French overseas territories choose not to join FIFA since that would mean leaving the French federation, which provides a lot of financial and technical support as well as the opportunity for local clubs to play in the French Cup.

If they only join CONCACAF they would still get to be part of the FFF while also getting to play in CONCACAF-only international competitions. So giving that up just for the chance to play in WCQ isn't worth it at all for them. Moreover, it probably wouldn't be financially feasible for Saint-Pierre to play international football in the first place without FFF support.

British and Dutch overseas territories don't get nearly the same level of attention from the English and Dutch FAs that the FFF provides to French overseas territories, so they have a lot more incentive to join FIFA.

Edited November 23, 2019 by Zem

[SthMelbRed]

Non-FIFA members joining CONCACAF can get right to fuck.

[Zem]

3 hours ago, SthMelbRed said:

Non-FIFA members joining CONCACAF can get right to ****.

Calm down, this has literally no impact on us whatsoever and would only provide more matches for League C teams. There is no downside to this.

[grande]

I somehow missed this before. I hope this goes through.

Have the St Pierre et Miquelon teams ever played in the French Cup?

Edit: I answered my own question.

In 2018-19, the islands were represented by AS Saint Pierraise, and joined during the third preliminary round. They were defeated 2-1 by ALC Longvic in the 7th tier.

In 2019-20, AS Îlienne Amateurs represented the territory. Again, they joined in the third round, and again they were defeated by a 7th tier team; This time, FC Lyon, by a score of 5-1.

Edited February 5, 2020 by grande

[HfxCeltic]

On 11/23/2019 at 6:16 PM, Zem said:

Travel costs could be a serious concern (the FFF would presumably help out in that regard), but if they can manage it I'd be super excited to see them playing international football, especially since I might be able to catch some Nations League C action in person!

This would be amazing! I've always been strangely intrigued by their domestic "club competition", so it would be amazing to see them play in Nations League!