September 29 – Concacaf has set a target of 2028 for the opening of the ‘Home of Soccer OneConcacaf’ in the Dominican Republic.
At Soccerex last week in Miami, Alejandro Lesende, Concacaf’s director of finance and administration, and lead architect Omar Queseda of Gensler, unveiled plans for the $50 million-plus training center that will also have the capacity to host competitive matches in the 10,000-seat stadium.
Explaining the rationale for the centre, Lesende (pictured) said: “We have some countries at the top level of developed nations, but also nations at the second level… they all need a playing field. Part of our reality is to give the same level to all countries.”
With a new competition ecosystem that includes all 41 Concacaf nations, the confederation has many more matches, which in turn requires more resources from facilities to referees and media.
“In many areas we have quadrupled the number of matches… Some of the countries in our ecosystem do not have a good pitch. Many national stadiums are owned by governments and shared by other sports,” said Lesende.
“We need to level the playing field. We want our nations to play on the best possible pitches and with the best possible infrastructure, from changing rooms to catering and meeting rooms.”
Lesende defined that the objectives of the project were defined as:
- Improve travel: The distance between nations can be great with airports not always conveniently located
- Cut red tape – make it easier to organize and play games
- Reduce or eliminate visa issues
- Reduce costs
- Build a world-class facility for soccer development
“Our big ambition was to have the best possible place, but we don’t have the budget to have everything. We needed a country with a good international airport, a world-class hospital and medical services, accommodation,” Lesende said.
“All of these requirements informed the process and the decision-making.”
The Dominican Republic ticked many of the boxes. It has three airports with one within 1.5 miles of the facility location serving 11 million passengers annually. It has many hotels within the Punta Cana resort facilities and is located in an area less affected by hurricanes.
Queseda presented the design of the project and the facilities that will include:
- A stadium with capacity for 10,000 people with flexibility to expand
- An indoor soccer court area with a capacity of 3,000 people that can go up to 5,000 and serve as a multi-purpose space for entertainment events.
- Two beach soccer fields with capacity for 2,600 spectators
- Six training fields adjacent to the stadium
- Multiple ‘pavilions’ within the stadium that can be used as hospitality, meeting or class rooms.
The west wing of the stadium is the operational center where the staff would work and the players would be based.
It will also have broadcasting facilities that will serve the entire region, as well as VAR rooms for the entire region and that will be able to attend all Concacaf matches.
Venues must be able to handle coaching courses, referee development and VAR to run all matches in the region, and be able to broadcast to 41 countries.
The ‘pavilions’ will all be different reusable spaces, while the stadium will have six changing rooms for players and four changing rooms for referees.
“We will be able to have four different teams in the stadium at the same time and they will never see any of the other teams at any time,” Lesende said.
“I’m dying with this project and I hope to be buried there,” he joked.
There are worse places to be.
Most of the funding for the project comes from reparation money collected by the US Department of Justice for the FIFAgate scandal. The final cost is under negotiation, but ground work is expected to start soon once all building permits are in place. It is expected to come into use as the phases are completed.
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