KINGSTON, Jamaica – The Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) has issued a pointed call to World Athletics to intervene in what it describes as an alarming trend: elite Jamaican athletes being lured away by deep-pocketed nations—most notably Turkey—through lucrative financial packages that threaten to erode the island’s proud track and field tradition.
The warning comes as four of Jamaica’s premier field event stars, including three Paris 2024 Olympic medalists, are reportedly finalizing moves to represent Turkey. According to reports, Olympic discus gold medalist Roje Stona, shot put bronze medalist Rajindra Campbell, long jump silver medalist Wayne Pinnock, and Olympic triple jump finalist Jaydon Hibbert have either accepted or are considering offers involving signing bonuses of up to US$500,000, as well as ongoing monthly financial support.
This wave of high-profile defections has sparked deep concern within the Jamaican federation, prompting it to prepare a formal submission to the World Athletics Congress in Tokyo this September, aimed at demanding stricter oversight and potential reform.
“The sport has changed”: Officials decry emerging transfer economy
Speaking Monday at a press conference launching Jamaica’s National Senior Championships (June 26–29), JAAA President Garth Gayle confirmed that while he has had no direct contact with the athletes or Turkish officials, he plans to escalate the matter both in writing and in person.
“We will be putting it in black and white and sending it to World Athletics… and I will be taking a written copy to the Congress in Tokyo,” Gayle stated firmly.
JAAA Vice President Ian Forbes contextualized the current moment as part of a broader shift in global athletics, one where financial might is now shaping international allegiances and distorting competitive equity.
“There’s that saying: nobody’s stoning green mangoes. They want the ripe mango,” said Forbes. “It’s not surprising they’ve gone after four of our athletes. The sport has changed. It’s still evolving. And I think World Athletics, and by extension JAAA and other federations, need to keep pace with the evolution of the sport and focus on preserving its integrity.”
From National Heroes to global commodities?
The four athletes at the center of the storm have been celebrated as the new faces of Jamaica’s burgeoning field event program, which has historically been overshadowed by the nation’s sprinting legacy. Their potential departure to Turkey—now aggressively building a competitive athletics team through external recruitment—would be a severe blow not just to medal hopes but also to the island’s developmental pipeline.
“We do not have the resources,” Forbes noted. “Last year, it was over half a million for a gold medal. We’ve built from the bottom, from basic school.”
According to Forbes, Turkey’s ambitions stretch beyond athletes: coaches, too, are being courted in a coordinated push to accelerate national success. It’s a trend that Gayle says is not unique to Jamaica.
“There are discussions at the highest level about what’s going on — the resurgence of what we see happening with Turkey. We’re not the only one,” he said, citing similar athlete defections from Nigeria and warning of more to come as Olympic deadlines approach.
JAAA proposes structural reform: “Time for transfer fees”
While both Gayle and Forbes acknowledged that athletes have the right to seek financial security and personal growth, they warned that unchecked inducements could dismantle grassroots systems in smaller nations—systems built not on cash, but on community and institutional development.
In response, the JAAA is urging World Athletics to consider structural reforms, including the introduction of transfer fees, akin to those used in professional football, to ensure that source federations are fairly compensated.
“In football, when players transfer clubs, there’s a transfer fee,” Forbes argued. “I think World Athletics needs to implement something similar.”
Plea to Corporate Jamaica: “We need help”
Despite the international nature of the issue, Gayle also used the platform to appeal to Corporate Jamaica to step up support for the nation’s athletes, suggesting that sustainable development must be underpinned by domestic investment, not foreign recruitment.
“We will continue to support Jamaican athletes with the resources available to us,” Gayle affirmed. “But we need corporate Jamaica to come on board in a serious and sustained way.”
As Jamaica’s senior athletes prepare to compete at the National Stadium later this week, their federation is already bracing for a larger battle—not on the track, but in the boardrooms of world sport, where the future of national identity, athlete welfare, and sporting fairness now hangs in the balance.
