Speid: Stadium track resurfacing no problem
Cavalier boss says he has an agreement with IPL to host Concacaf Champions Cup match at the venue on March 13
Published:Monday | February 24, 2025 | 12:11 AMLivingston Scott/Gleaner Writer
Cavalier boss Rudolph Speid said his team’s Concacaf Champions Cup round-of-16 match against Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami or Sporting Kansas City, scheduled for the National Stadium, March 13, is good to go.
The running track at the National Stadium is scheduled to be resurfaced in the weeks leading up to the annual ISSA-GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Athletics Championships (March 25-29), but Speid declared that he had no worries as he has an agreement with Independence Park Limited (IPL), the managers of the National Stadium, and he has full confidence that they will honour the arrangement.
“When I spoke to the people at IPL they said the field is good. I do not care about that (work to be done at the stadium). I am not worried about all of that. I am worried about my game.
“I talked to Major (Desmon) Brown ( IPL’s general manager) yesterday (Thursday), and he said, ‘Mr Speid you are good’,” Speid told The Gleaner.
“I booked the field from last year, and I expect IPL to honour the agreement with me. What they are going to do to get the field up and running is not my concern. I was informed that I was good, and I trust the IPL. I spoke to Major Brown, and I have no issues.
“We put in everything early, and we checked back, and they said we were good twice since February. From last year we booked the date. We reinforced that by putting it in writing. Whatever happens the game will be played,” Speid said.
However, he pointed out that should the National Stadium have problems hosting the match, he already has a contingency plan in place. Nevertheless, he hopes it does not come to that.
“I do not have it in the back of my mind because I have a Plan B already. So I will not make that bother me. I have my Plan A and I have a Plan B. I just hope I do not have to activate it, but if I have to I will. So the match will play one way or the other,” he insists.
There have also been suggestions that Cavalier could give up their home leg of the tie and play in the USA and cash in big time.
However, Speid said playing the game outside of Jamaica is out of the question as Cavalier have a legacy of bringing world stars to Jamaica, and he wants to maintain this legacy started by the club’s legendary founder and former coach Leighton Duncan.
“Cavalier carried Pele to Jamaica, and now we will carry Messi. It is unlikely that Messi will ever come back to Jamaica. So Duncan carried Pele here, and now Speid is carrying Messi here. So both times it is Cavalier.
“My only regret was that we never carried Cristiano Ronaldo or somebody else like that. But it might just happen. Who knows.
“But although it might work out to not be the most ideal of situations, people can rest assured that the game will be played in Jamaica,” he said.
Messi’s Inter Miami lead Sporting Kansas City 1-0 from the first leg of the Concacaf first-round tie. The teams will meet again on Tuesday to decide who faces Cavalier in the round of 16.