The more things change the more they remain the same. That’s an old English proverb that aptly describes the current state of affairs within the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) and its football management. Especially as it pertains to the Reggae Girlz.
For those who might have missed it, the senior women’s team, the Reggae Girlz, on Thursday issued a statement on social media slamming the federation for its continued mishandling of their affairs regarding preparation ahead of the FIFA World Cup Finals slated for next month in Australia and New Zealand.
The ladies qualified for their second consecutive World Cup Finals and are hoping to improve on their group-stage elimination at their first attempt back in 2019. They are in their penultimate preparation phase before breaking training camp in Jamaica on Monday.
They are scheduled to regroup in The Netherlands for their final camp in early July before heading Down Under. They are drawn in Group F at the World Cup alongside European powers France, South American ace Brazil and Central American outfit Panama.
But instead of concentrating on their technical and tactical on-field training, they have been forced to call out their administration once again for a lack of adequate support for them to meet their goals.
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They cited subpar planning, transportation, accommodations, training conditions, compensation, communication, nutrition and accessibility to proper resources as areas of concern.
And shortly after their statement went viral, the federation was forced to offer a half-hearted response that was void of any specifics required to resolve their concerns.
This airing of the federation’s “dirty linen” has been a constant for this administration over the past few years, not only with the women’s team, but with many of the teams.
It was so bad that former General Secretary Dalton Wint was let go after Reggae Boyz met with President Mike Ricketts and demanded his dismissal after exhausting their patience with what they deemed continued incompetence.
Read More: JFF struggling to fund $100m Women’s World Cup budget, says President Ricketts
So Dennis Chung, well known and respected Chartered Accountant, was brought in to “right the ship” at the backend of last year. But the big question is, has he?
Truth be told, the same old “sores” continue to surface and they are not easy on the eyes.
Over that time, some serious issues have arisen and caused many to question if anything has changed fundamentally in the way the federation operates.
We vividly remember the bungling of travel arrangements for a national team over said period. And only recently we heard of another situation when an Under-15 boys’ team, which will compete in the CONCACAF Under-15 Championship in August, was pulled from a tournament in Scandinavia after the federation failed to apply in time for the requisite Schengen visas.
This is a situation that boggles the mind if unconfirmed reports are to be believed, in terms of how that whole saga unfolded.
I am told that the boys had already been left disappointed from last July when their Under-14 team also failed to make an overseas tourney.
This time around they were led to believe that it would happen even to the last hour. It is reported that they gathered for a camp and had to be bussed to Mount Pleasant Academy facilities because Captain Horace Burrell/UWI Centre of Excellence was being used by a visiting team.
If that were not bad enough, when they returned to Kingston at the Centre of Excellence after everything fell apart, well after 9:00 pm, I am told, the juveniles had to find their way to their respective homes.
The boys were scheduled to play on a Friday, and it is said that the date for the Schengen visa application was on the Monday before. How is that good management?
Chung accepted that there was “no excuse” for the late visa application.
“There were some logistical issues. We were waiting on names to be confirmed. But the truth is, we should have applied earlier for it (visas). There is no excuse for that. There should have been an earlier application,” he told the media.
But is that explanation good enough? Having managed numerous teams in all parts of the world, how could they have mishandled something as simple as that? Shouldn’t Governmental intervention be a last resort?
It is not looking good and the JFF had better get its act together as soon as possible. And the credit which Chung entered the fray with is fast depleting.
If this trend continues, don’t be surprised if another set of players also calls for his sacking.
A word to the wise should suffice.
