The Cayman Islands Football Association announced major changes to the 2024-25 season, after Alliance FC’s withdrawal from the Premier League and the merger of the men’s first and second divisions.
After starting the season in the CIFA First Division, Roma USC and Cayman Brac FC will continue their season in a tier above, against tougher competition, while Cayman Athletic SC and Latinos FC will remain in the merged league as the only two teams eligible for a promotion at the end of the season.
The decision for this change, months after the CIFA season kicked off, follows the dismantling of Alliance which were unable to meet the player threshold, forcing them to pull out from the league, leaving only nine teams.
FIFA mandates that professional and amateur leagues must have a minimum of 10 teams per league, prompting CIFA to invite Roma, Cayman Brac and Cayman Athletic SC to join the premier ranks, according to one of the association’s officials.
Roma and Cayman Brac accepted the promotion while Cayman Athletic opted to stay the course in the first division.
With the addition of Roma and Cayman Brac to the Premier League, that brings the number of teams to 11 – the largest number of teams in the league since the 2019-20 season.
The two teams will join Scholars International, Tigers FC, 345 FC, East End United, Bodden Town FC, Academy SC, Elite SC, Future SC and Sunset FC.
Roma United FC’s manager Gregory Malcolm told the Compass that he is grateful for the competition for his team but admitted that leaving the first division was bittersweet.
“We’ll get to play at a higher level, which is good,” Malcolm said. “If we could have continued playing in division one, we would have if we had to continue, but we have no complaints.”
For Cayman Athletic head coach Ernie ‘Gillie’ Seymour, it was about making the most realistic decision to allow his team a shot at succeeding.
“We were not allowed to change our roster to strengthen our team to play in the premiership, so we decided to stay in the first division and compete for a promotion with hopes to strengthen our team for the next season,” Seymour told the Compass.
In a press release, CIFA further noted that in the premier league, the second-to-last team will play in the relegation/promotion playoff at the end of the 2024-25 season.
“All matches already played between the 11 premier league teams are valid and the match results stand as well as disciplinary actions,” CIFA stated. “Only Cayman Athletic SC and Latinos FC will contend for the promotion to the [premier league] 2025-26 … and the second best [of the two teams] will be qualified to the relegation/promotion play-off at the end of the 2024-25 season.”
According to CIFA, the matches previously played are valid in both the first division and premier league and will count towards points and goals.
The FA Cups, Vice President’s Cup, and President’s Cups will remain the same. Additionally, CIFA said some matches within the women’s league, and the men’s first division and premier league, will be scheduled for midweek (Tuesdays, Wednesdays and/or Thursdays) “to allow the completion of the senior competitions by the end of July, the latest”.
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