GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands — Chickens scurried about on Friday morning as a bulldozer spread crushed rock for a new soccer field with artificial turf at the Cayman Islands Football Association.
It might seem unlikely that FIFA, soccer’s world governing body, has spent $2.2 million since 2002 to build a new headquarters for the soccer association and to fund two planned fields, given that the land is swampy and a grass field struggled to exist in brackish conditions.
FIFA’s generosity might seem even more improbable, considering that the Cayman Islands, a Caribbean tax and tourist haven, is ranked 191st among the world’s 209 national soccer teams.