Kwesi Mugisa, Staff Reporter

Digicel's Kieran Foley ... We have had clubs like Liverpool promise to track our progression in the following years. - File

A rebranded Digicel Caribbean Championships is expected to provide Caribbean players with another stage to showcase their abilities as the region strives for the goal of producing world class players on a consistent basis.

The tournament, formerly known as the Digicel Caribbean Cup, will include some 25 regional teams and was launched in Curacao on Tuesday. The competition will officially kick off in that country on the 27th of July, which will see hosts The Netherland Antilles tackle Grenada.

Encouraged by the fact that several young Caribbean player's who earned a two-week stint at English Premier League team Sunderland FC earlier this year were able to make some sort of impression, the title sponsors Digicel say they are hopeful that with more attention turned in the direction of the region, some players, if put on display, can eventually make the transition.

Reason for name change

The sponsors added that the tournament's name was changed to emulate the successful Euro Championships.

"The feedback we have received has been incredible so much so that we have had clubs like Liverpool promise to track our progression in the following years," explained Kieran Foley, Head of Sponsorship for the Digicel Group.

"So the bigger clubs are also aware of the skill and talent in the Caribbean," he added.

The eight players, including Jamaica's Akeem Brown, who took part in the Sunderland training stint, had been selected from across the Caribbean in the Digicel Kick Start Clinic in April, hosted by former Liverpool and England legend John Barnes.

"This is an opportunity to progress football in a critical and crucial time. The opportunity for the development of each country is there and we are aggressively trying to ensure that we do as much as we can," Foley said.

The tournament will last for the next five months and will consist of three stages. The winners and runner-ups of preliminary groups A, B, C, D and E, which make up stage one of the tournament, will advance to stage two, where they will be placed alongside seeded teams Trinidad and Tobago, Cuba and Guadeloupe in groups F, G and H.

Advance to final stage

The top and second-placed teams from groups F, G and H will advance to the final stage where Haiti, who have secured their round in the third stage by virtue of being defending champions, and Jamaica, who are the hosts, await them.

Stage three, which will be split into groups I and J, will be held in Jamaica at the National Stadium in December. The winner of the tournament will receive US$120, 000 while US$70,000 will go to the runner up and the third and fourth-placed teams will receive US$50,000 and US$30,000 respectively.