President of the Dominica Football Association (DFA), Glen Etienne has said the island’s sporting sector has received a major hit during the passage of Tropical Storm Erika.
He said several football fields were severely damage and a number of regional and international partners have already came onboard to provide financial assistance to the organization.
“The many playing fields used by DFA to host matches have been affected, here I make mention of Bath Estate and Geneva playing field,” he said over the weekend. “These widely used pitches suffered extensive damages and a lot of resources will require to bring them to playing standards again.”
According to Etienne, a technical centre at Stockfarm also received its fair share of damages and at present a team of professionals are doing assessments which will be sent to FIFA, Concacaf and Caribbean Football Union (CFU) for review and necessary actions.
“Very soon CFU president, Mr Derrick Gordon, and FIFA Development Officer for the Southern Caribbean, Mr. Howard McIntosh, will be on island to witness for themselves the damages that have been done to the country’s infrastructure,” he noted.
Etienne pointed out that while there are setbacks, “we shall not be daunted and collectively we will strive since we are a resilient people, full of love, dedication and commitment to country. Again we shall rise.”
Meantime Etienne stated that the DFA is in the process of assisting members of the football family affected by Erika.
“Your loss is also our loss and we in the DFA will endeavour to do all within our powers to ease the suffering and the pain,” he said. “We have made contact with regional and international football organizations and it is our hope that some sort of assistance will be given, which will be passed on to those affected.”
He noted further that to date the DFA has received a monetary contribution from the Grenada Football Association and is very happy for this gesture.
He thanked the Grenadian public and the Grenada Football Association for their contribution.
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