Above: Grenada (CJ Photo)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Grenada’s men’s national football team is currently ranked 145th in the world according to the October edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking, just ahead of Barbados and Curacao.

It’s something that the country’s Sports Minister, Emmalin Pierre, wants to see change.

Pierre is calling on the Grenada Football Association to submit a “technical plan that seeks to fulfill this country’s intentions regarding the further advancement of national teams.”

In a statement, she said the time had come “for a more professional approach to be taken towards the development and participation of national football teams.”

“I believe we must now seriously look at a technical master plan for the next few years,” Pierre said. “A plan that focuses on the certification of coaches, as well as a combined effort to provide a dream for our youngsters in primary schools and those in grassroots programmes around the island.”

She said she was committed to facilitating the development of local football and “the establishment of the requisite structures to facilitate the establishment of professional approach to sports on the island.”

Pierre recently held talks with the GFA’s executive committee in that regard.