Men’s and women’s Premier League football will return to the island on Sunday, January 22 next year.
General Secretary of the Barbados Football Association, Edwyn Wood said they were looking forward to the resumption of official club matches around the island after the setback of the past two years caused by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
“After strategic organisation and planning, we are pleased to finally announce the restart of domestic league football in Barbados,” he said in a media release on Monday.
“Last month, we hosted the finals of the men’s Republic Cup and Women’s Super League, which were two major successful tournaments. This is exciting news, as we are fully aware that clubs have been training and eagerly waiting for the start of the new season.”
Domestic football at all levels, like many other sports, was suspended due to government health and safety regulations related to pandemic during the past two years.
The Republic Cup and Women’s Super League was the first attempt by the BFA to get the sport going in the island again once the government relaxed the regulations, and the sport’s national governing body is now set to have a full-blown season next year at all levels.
“We are looking forward to high quality football, which will help to develop our players as well as welcoming our fans back to the (Wildey) Turf,” Wood added. “The Leagues are extremely important and will play a part in preparation for another year when our senior national teams will be in action.”
The men’s Premier League, specifically, will give an opportunity to locally based players to stake a claim for selection to the Barbados men’s national team for the Concacaf Nations League (CNL) matches against Cuba on March 23 at home and against Antigua on March 26 away.
The BFA announced that the transfer window for players opens on January 1 next year and will close on January 21.
(PR-AR)