Location of teams of the 2016 CFU Club Championship Red: Group 1; Green: Group 2; Blue: Group 3; Yellow: Group 4; Dots: indicate group hosts; Pogs: indicate other group teams
The tournament was open to all league champions and runners-up from each of the 31 CFU member associations, once their competition ended on or before the end of 2015.
A total of 14 teams from 8 CFU associations entered the competition.[1][2] This is the first CFU Club Championship to feature teams from the Dominican Republic, with Atlético Pantoja and Atlántico both participating.
Haiti (HAI): Haiti's 2015 Tournoi de Clôture was not completed until 3 January 2016, and thus only one champion was crowned in the 2015 calendar year. The runners-up of the Tournoi d'Ouverture (América) were invited instead of the champions of the Tournoi de Clôture (FICA).[3]
Schedule
Round
Dates
Preliminary round
Groups A & B
24–28 February 2016
Group C
9–13 March 2016
Group D
2–6 March 2016
Final round
29 April – 1 May 2016
The Group C matches were delayed from the original dates of 24–28 February 2016 due to the Jamaican general election on 25 February.[4]
Preliminary round
In the preliminary round, the 14 teams were divided into two groups of four teams and two groups of three teams, consisting of two league champions and either one or two league runners-up.[1][2] Each group was played on a round-robin basis, hosted by one of the teams at a centralized venue. The winners of each group advanced to the final round.
In the final round, the four teams played matches on a knock-out basis, hosted by one of the teams at a centralized venue. The semi-finals matchups were:
Winner Group 1 vs. Winner Group 4
Winner Group 2 vs. Winner Group 3
The semi-final winners played in the final, while the losers played in the third place match.