CONCACAF Play-offs for Brazil 2014 World Cup Draw; Belarus FA Chief Re-elected

By worldfootballinsider.com

CONCACAF has announced that a series of play-off matches will be contested in June to cut the number of its teams for the Brazil 2014 World Cup draw in Rio de Janeiro on July 30.

The region's 10 lowest ranked teams according to March’s FIFA world rankings were paired against each other for the five play-off matches. They will be played over two legs.

The play-offs feature: Montserrat v Belize; Anguilla v Dominican Republic; US Virgin Islands v British Virgin Islands; Aruba v St. Lucia; and Bahamas v Turks and Caicos.

The winners will join the remaining 25 higher-ranked teams from the region in the draw. The first game is scheduled for June 3, with the return leg on June 7.

The Brazil 2014 qualifying draw, a key milestone in the country's World Cup preparations, will take place at Marina da Gloria harbour, close to Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana beach. Almost all of FIFA's 208 member nations are expected to be involved in the draw, including those currently suspended, Indonesia and Bosnia.

In March, FIFA decided that CONCACAF and the other five continental confederations would have the same allocation of places for the Brazilian World Cup as for last year's edition in South Africa.

Europe have 13 spots, Africa 5, South America 4.5, Asia 4.5, North, Central America and Caribbean 3.5 and Oceania 0.5.

Roumas re-elected as Belarus FA chief
Sergei Roumas says he aims to raise standards in the national league after being elected as the new president of the Football Federation of Belarus.

Roumas was elected unopposed in the association's elections. He replaces Gennadi Nevyglas, who has been named honorary president.

"We have to double the number of people involved in grassroots football. Youth football is hugely important to us. We need to improve the standard of the national league as it is fundamental to all our national teams," Roumas told delegates, according to UEFA.com.

Belarusian football has grown in stature under Nevyglas. The country qualified for a third UEFA European Under-21 Championship this summer. The efforts of FC BATE Borisov in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League have raised the profile of the country's club football.