JFF execs meet CFU boss Warner
By Sean A. Williams (Jamaica Observer)JFF president Captain Horace Burrell and general secretary Horace Reid are in Trinidad and Tobago for a crisis meeting with CFU president Jack Warner as they seek to find ways of reversing the declining financial situation of the country's football.
At the CONCACAF office in Port of Spain yesterday, Warner and his Jamaican colleagues examined a range of possibilities in their quest to find answers aimed at changing the fortunes of a federation buckling under the pressure of income starvation and spiralling debt.
Warner, who is also the CONCACAF top man, has vowed his support for one of the region's strongest football associations in these dark days and said he will begin the rescue efforts by helping to identify potential sponsors and other income-generating sources.
The football strongman was very upbeat that as daunting as the JFF's situation appears at this time, he's confident that it will rebound from its financial uncertainty and get back on track fully and effectively of conducting the business of football.
"It is imperative that CONCACAF and the CFU step in to assist the JFF. This is an unacceptable situation we find ourselves in... football is a family and a common bond connects us," said Warner in a release yesterday.
On his return to the helm of football locally in 2007, Burrell and his new administration found a Federation with a ghastly debt of some $115 million, which has since been reduced by $15 million after skilful negotiations and massive sacrifices.
Just last week, bailiffs with a view of confiscating the JFF's onsite assets, raided the New Kingston headquarters as they sought to recover an outstanding sum of £12,000 on behalf of England-based NVA Management Limited which carried out work for the Crenston Boxhill-led JFF on a disastrous tour of England back in 2006.
To buy time and possibly save the organisation untold embarrassment, the JFF had to divert funds from its March wage bill in order to pay over J$850,000 to the bailiffs. Some JFF staff are yet to be paid for last month, while others are owed as way back as November last year.
According to JFF general secretary, Horace Reid, the MVA debt was not recorded on the books of the JFF when the Burrell-led administration took over in November, 2007, and only came to light when the Federation received court documents from the UK Courts.
"I know the current administration inherited a substantial debt; despite their ongoing efforts, they cannot bear this burden alone. We have explored a number of options to yield both long and short-term solutions. This predicament has cast a shadow of doubt on the ability of the JFF to continue its normal operations and this meeting is meant to lift the veil of uncertainty and chart a way forward," Warner said.
Warner -- a high-ranking member of the parliamentary opposition in his native Trinidad, the United National Congress -- underlined the closeness of the Caribbean football family and said the CFU, and by extension CONCACAF, will not sit back and watch Jamaica's football business go down.
"The growth of football in the region is interlinked and the survival and continued growth of the game in the Caribbean will be affected by how we handle this JFF situation," he said.
Also a FIFA vice-president, Warner added that "it is truly a sad day" that the JFF has found itself down this unfortunate road.
Meanwhile, Burrell has described the meeting as "truly encouraging and hopeful".
Burrell, who is a senior vice-president of the CFU and a member of CONCACAF's executive committee, said meetings with Warner and other vital interests will continue until a feasible path is found out of the current crisis.
" We will continue to meet with the president (warner) on this matter, but it has been agreed that this situation will not be allowed to hamper the operations of the JFF," said the Jamaica businessman from Port-of-Spain yesterday.
With a burdensome debt and the harsh economic times, the Federation has been forced to reduce its staff from a complement of 44 to 26 over two years -- with the last cut coming just last week, which saw among its victims, the communications manager Nodley Wright.
Recently, aspects of its technical programme have been downsized, most notably the scrapping of the senior women's and Olympics teams. Still, rationalisation of the programme is ongoing as belt-tightening measures kick in.
The Federation's income range has been slashed with the reduction of its subvention from government, plus the millions in potential earnings which went up in smoke with the Reggae Boyz's elimination from the South Africa 2010 World Cup.
