We have overcome - Montagliani

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC):

CONCACAF president Victor Montagliani believes the organisation has overcome the corruption scandals of the past through a strong collective effort by regional associations, and says the focus will remain on uniting the confederation.

Speaking here at the opening of the FIFA Caribbean Development Office, the Canadian told reporters that the 41 member organisations which constituted the continental governing body, had managed to make progress by prioritising football.

"The truth be told, that (corruption scandal) was a long time ago, and in football two years is a long time. At the end of the day, it really wasn't up to FIFA to bring respectability back to the region, it was up to the region to bring respectability back to the region," said Montagliani.

"And I think we have done that through CONCACAF and through our member associations, and if you've seen the work that is being done by the 41-member associations in CONCACAF, starting with your own president (Randy Harris) here in Barbados, he has been putting football first."

Montagliani was elected president of CONCACAF - the governing body for football in North, Central America and the Caribbean - a year following the corruption scandal which led to the removal of the previous head of the confederation, Jeffrey Webb.

In 2015, the Cayman Islander, also a FIFA vice-president, was among several former and then current football officials indicted by the United States Department of Justice on racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracies.