2021 Caribbean Club Shield

2021 CONCACAF Caribbean Club Shield
Tournament details
Host country	Curaçao
City	Willemstad
Dates	Cancelled; (originally 23 April – 2 May 2021)
Teams	14 (from 14 associations)
Venue(s)	2 (in 1 host city)
	← 2020 2022 →

The 2021 Caribbean Club Shield was originally to be the fourth edition of the Caribbean Club Shield (also known as the CFU Club Shield), the second-tier annual international club football competition in the Caribbean region, held amongst clubs whose football associations are affiliated with the Caribbean Football Union (CFU), a sub-confederation of CONCACAF.

The tournament was originally scheduled to be played in Curaçao between 23 April and 2 May 2021.^[1] However, CONCACAF decided in early April to postpone the tournament due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Curaçao.^[2] Eventually the tournament was cancelled, and a number of teams originally set to participate in the 2021 CONCACAF Caribbean Club Shield instead participated in the expanded 2021 CONCACAF Caribbean Club Championship.^[3]

The winners of the 2021 CONCACAF Caribbean Club Shield, as long as they fulfill the CONCACAF Regional Club Licensing criteria, would originally play against the fourth place team of the 2021 CONCACAF Caribbean Club Championship in a playoff match to determine the final Caribbean spot to the 2021 CONCACAF League.^[4]

Robinhood, having won the title in 2019, were the title holders, since the 2020 edition was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the title was not awarded,^[5] but did not qualify for the tournament.

Teams

Racing Club Aruba

Real Rincon

Scherpenheuvel (H)

Location of teams of the 2021 CONCACAF Caribbean Club Shield
(H) Host.

Among the 31 CFU member associations, 27 of them were classified as non-professional leagues and each may enter one team in the CONCACAF Caribbean Club Shield. A total of 14 teams (from 14 associations) entered the 2021 CONCACAF Caribbean Club Shield.^[6]

After the cancellation of the 2021 CONCACAF Caribbean Club Shield, 9 of the 14 teams instead participated in the expanded 2021 CONCACAF Caribbean Club Championship (marked in bold).^[3] Initially, 11 teams would participate, but Racing Club Aruba (Aruba), South East (Dominica) and Platinum FC (Saint Lucia) withdrew, while Hope International (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines) were added.^[7]^[8]

Association	Team	Qualification method
Aruba	Racing Club Aruba	2018–19 Aruban Division di Honor champions^{[Note ARU]}
Bonaire	Real Rincon	2018–19 Bonaire League champions^{[Note BOE]}
Curaçao (hosts)	Scherpenheuvel	2019–20 Curaçao Promé Divishon champions
Dominica	South East	2020 Dominica Premier League champions
French Guiana	Olympique de Cayenne	2019–20 French Guiana Honor Division champions^{[Note GUF]}
Guadeloupe	Gosier	2019–20 Guadeloupe Division of Honor champions^{[Note GLP]}
Guyana	Fruta Conquerors	2019 GFF Elite League champions^{[Note GUY]}
Martinique	Samaritaine	2019–20 Martinique Championnat National champions^{[Note MTQ]}
Puerto Rico	Metropolitan	2018–19 Liga Puerto Rico champions^{[Note PUR]}
Saint Kitts and Nevis	St. Paul's United	2019–20 SKNFA Premier League champions
Saint Lucia	Platinum FC	2019 SLFA First Division champions^{[Note LCA]}
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	Hope International	2019–20 SVGFF Premier Division champions
Sint Maarten	Flames United	2020–21 Sint Maarten Senior League champions
Suriname	Inter Moengotapoe	2018–19 SVB Topklasse champions^{[Note SUR]}

Associations which did not enter a team

Notes

^
Aruba (ARU): The 2019–20 Aruban Division di Honor was abandoned by the Aruba Football Federation due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Aruba. The season was declared null and void, and no champions were declared.^[9]
^
Bonaire (BOE): The 2019–20 Bonaire League was abandoned by the Bonaire Football Federation due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Bonaire. The season was declared null and void, and no champions were declared.^[10]
^
French Guiana (GUF): The 2019–20 French Guiana Honor Division was abandoned by the French Football Federation (which governs the Ligue de Football de la Guyane) due to the COVID-19 pandemic in France (which also affects French Guiana). Olympique de Cayenne, which were the leaders at the time of abandonment, were declared champions.^[11]
^
Guadeloupe (GLP): The 2019–20 Guadeloupe Division of Honor was abandoned by the French Football Federation (which governs the Guadeloupean League of Football) due to the COVID-19 pandemic in France (which also affects Guadeloupe). Gosier, which were the leaders at the time of abandonment, were declared champions.^[12]
^
Guyana (GUY): The 2020 GFF Elite League was not organized by the Guyana Football Federation due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Guyana.^[13]
^
Martinique (MTQ): The 2019–20 Martinique Championnat National was abandoned by the French Football Federation (which governs the Ligue de football de la Martinique) due to the COVID-19 pandemic in France (which also affects Martinique). Samaritaine, which were the leaders at the time of abandonment, were declared champions.^[14]
^
Puerto Rico (PUR): The 2019–20 Liga Puerto Rico was abandoned by the Puerto Rican Football Federation due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Puerto Rico. The season was declared null and void, and no champions were declared.^[15]
^
Saint Lucia (LCA): The 2020 SLFA First Division was abandoned by the Saint Lucia Football Association due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Saint Lucia. The season was declared null and void, and no champions were declared.
^
Suriname (SUR): The 2019–20 SVB Topklasse was abandoned by the Surinamese Football Association due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Suriname. The season was declared null and void, and no champions were declared.^[16]

Venues

The matches were originally to be played at the Ergilio Hato Stadium and FFK Stadium in Willemstad.^[17]

Group stage

The draw for the group stage was held on 26 February 2021, 11:00 EST (UTC−5), at the CONCACAF Headquarters in Miami, United States.^[6] The 14 teams were drawn into four groups: two groups of four teams (Groups A–B) and two groups of three teams (Groups C–D). The team from the host association Curaçao, Scherpenheuvel, were allocated to position A1, while the remaining 13 teams were drawn into the other group positions without any seeding.^[18]

The winners of each group would advance to the semi-finals.

Tiebreakers

The ranking of teams in each group is determined as follows (Regulations Article 12.3):^[4]

Points obtained in all group matches (three points for a win, one for a draw, zero for a loss);
Goal difference in all group matches;
Number of goals scored in all group matches;
Points obtained in the matches played between the teams in question;
Goal difference in the matches played between the teams in question;
Number of goals scored in the matches played between the teams in question;
Fair play points in all group matches (only one deduction could be applied to a player in a single match):
- Yellow card: −1 points;
- Indirect red card (second yellow card): −3 points;
- Direct red card: −4 points;
- Yellow card and direct red card: −5 points;
Drawing of lots.

All times local, AST (UTC−4).^[17]

Group A

Pos	Team	Qualification
1	Scherpenheuvel (H)	Knockout stage
2	Flames United
3	Real Rincon
4	Platinum FC

Source: CONCACAF
(H) Hosts

23 April 2021