| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Karl |
Posted - Jan 25 2006 : 08:15:12 AM
FROM THE BOUNDARY - In the interest of football
published: Wednesday | January 25, 2006
Tony Becca
THE JFF Congress has come and gone. So has the vote of no confidence against president Crenston Boxhill and his administration, and hopefully, those who were elected to run the affairs of the country's football will now be allowed to do so in peace.
As those who were behind the vote of no confidence said many, many times, this is a democratic country, people have the right to make changes and to call for changes, the constitution gave them the right to do so, and there is no question about it - they were within their rights to have done so.
The right to do something is one thing. Fair play, however, is something else, and there were two questions which those who moved for the vote of no confidence against an elected body should have considered.
The questions should have been these: was it justified, and was it in the best interest of football?
Based on the arguments put forward by those moving the motion - arguments which included the fact that Jamaica did not qualify for this year's World Cup Finals, arguments which included the lack of matches involving the national team at the National Stadium, and arguments which included the charge that there has been no development programme since the present administration took over in November 2003, the motion was not justified.
Remembering, for example, that Jamaica, after qualifying for the World Cup Finals in 1998, did not do so in 2002, remembering that a number of countries - small third world countries like Jamaica - have qualified only once for the World Cup Finals and that it took those who have been back a second time years to do so, it was unfair, and especially so after it was in office for only two years, to attempt to remove the present JFF administration because Jamaica did not qualify for the World Cup Finals.
While it may well be the belief by those who instigated the vote of no confidence and those who backed it that Jamaica are among the best football teams in the world, and that Jamaica have a divine right to qualify for the World Cup Finals, that is not so.
NO SKILL, NO MONEY
As talented as some of their players may be, Jamaica simply do not have neither the skill nor the money to qualify for the World Cup Finals every time - or rather, as some seem to believe, every other time.
Football needs money for it to be successful. For it to grow, in a country like Jamaica, that money comes from sponsors, from the business sector, and based on the negative impact that a row, a nasty, public row at that, can have on sponsors, the vote of no confidence was certainly not in the best interest of the game - and even in a democracy, certainly not a vote of confidence built on petty things or the difference of opinions over the way things should be done.
A vote of no confidence against an elected body, even in a democracy, should be reserved to remove a man or an administration in cases of gross mismanagement, incompetence, or theft.
If, as it is rumoured; if, as it is being whispered around the country, the hand behind the move was that of former president Horace Burrell, who did a wonderful job and who wants to return as the head of the country's football, it certainly should not be used to satisfy one man's ego - certainly not at the expense of a game that has spread in this country like wildfire over the past 30 years, and one with the potential of getting even bigger.
Football, like every other sport, is bigger than any one man, and in the interest of the sport, for things to proceed smoothly, for sponsors to have confidence in the sport and those who administer it, whoever wants to be the next president of the JFF should wait until the next annual general meeting and go for it.
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| 1 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Karl |
Posted - Jan 26 2006 : 1:37:09 PM
Waiting to Explode Again
Taken from the Reggae Boyz discussion forum - the Poster is "MUST READ"
(or Striking a Balance as I call it)
Tucker (Online Star)
Waiting to explode again
THINGS HAVE SIMMERED down a bit since the very heated Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) Congress at Munro College on Sunday, January 15.
President Crenston Boxhill has now been given some breathing room and he can now relax and watch his young Reggae Girlz battle for a place in the Under-20 World Championships.
I must say that I am not a great admirer of women's football but that does not in any way detract from the achievements of the under-20 team. Already they have reached further than any other Caribbean women's team and could become the first Jamaican women's football squad to reach a world championships.
MAIN JOB
When this is all over, however, Boxhill will have to return home to face his main job, the development of male football. The disputes which culminated in the no-confidence vote on January 15 have been swept under the carpet for the time being but they are sure to surface again soon.
There is a fundamental problem facing the national football bosses and this was not solved by the defeat of the no-confidence vote.
At the heart of the matter is the fact that there are two contending philosophies on the way forward with regard to Jamaica's senior football programme. The first sees a strong national senior team now as the only way forward.
SIMOES' RECRUITING POLICY
Therefore, by whatever means, Jamaica should maintain a strong Reggae Boyz squad in much the same way as it was under Rene Simoes as it is this aggregation which is going to earn money to finance the activities of the age group and women's teams. This strong team, they say, should include Jamaicans from whichever country coming together and playing under the national flag.
According to this first group, the recruiting policy promoted under Simoes served Jamaica well as the country, helped by players such as Deon Burton, Fitzroy Simpson, Robbie Earle and Paul Hall reached the World Cup Finals in 1998.
STRONG YOUTH PROGRAMME
The opposing group feels local football will never develop if we continue a policy based on finding ready-made players with Jamaican roots in England or the United States. The school of thought here is that Jamaica should develop a strong youth programme from which senior internationals would eventually come. The training centre at Munro College would play a great part in this development.
With the latter plan, Jamaica may have to say goodbye to World Cup Finals play for a long time. While local players would get a chance to rub shoulders with the best in the region, the lack of top-level experience such as that being earned by American players in the English Premier League would always ensure that Jamaica, at least in the shot run, would finish second best to CONCACAF's top guns.
BALANCE
Some sort of a balance will have to be struck. Jamaica could not have reached the 1998 World Cup Finals in France without the professional approach which came with the recruitment of Burton, Hall, Simpson and Earle.
Local talent without top-level experience cannot compete on the international stage.
The hope is that young talent developed at Munro will catch the eye of international scouts, giving these players a chance to play in some of the leading leagues abroad. This will take a great deal of time and those against such a path may not be willing to wait 10, maybe 15 years to see Jamaica's colours again at the World Cup.
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