|
Karl
Senior Member
USA
914 Posts |
 Posted - Jul 29 2002 : 09:08:13 AM
|
Mutiny on JFF ship?
By Nodley Wright, Staff Reporter
Burrell and Reid - File
PRESIDENT OF the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), Captain Horace Burrell, could face mutiny from the crew today when he calls them together for an executive meeting designed to chart a course out of financial insolvency.
Last week, just over a day after his return from the World Cup in Korea and Japan, Burrell announced the immediate suspension of the entire national football programme.
This, he said, was because of lack of finances caused by a 65 per cent cut in government subvention.
Included in the teams sent home were the senior women's team which was preparing for a World Cup qualifier this weekend and the Under-17s and Under-20s who were also preparing for qualifiers. The senior men's team was also getting ready for friendlies in the United Kingdom.
But while Burrell took the government to task for failing to provide adequate support for the national programme, a number of his executives have not stayed on board with his position. They accuse him of unfairly trying to embarrass the government.
"Contrary to popular belief, there are a number of us who are not in agreement with the Captain's outburst which I think is trying to embarrass the government in to action," said one executive.
Outbursts such as these, without the support of the executive, are not the only problem these executives find with Burrell.
"The current setup has a number of problems. To begin with there is a lack of transparency and accountability. Take for example when it comes to the matter of tickets for games, the general secretary (Horace Reid) is the one who collects the tickets for the games. Between him and the president they deal with all these matters while the treasurer who was elected to handle such matters is not involved," continued the executive.
His position was supported by another who said that all issues relating to tickets were handled from Burrell's office in the Towers in New Kingston.
Another executive, who like the others said did not want to be named for fear of being marginalised, accused Burrell and Reid of operating an organisation in which only they knew the goings on.
"We discovered recently that FIFA gives US$250,000 to each national association for development of football and the executive was never advised. We do not even know how this money is spent.
"The Cable and Wireless endorsement deal, the Grace Kennedy, Joe Bloggs (clothing), Kappa and Uhlsport (the current outfitters of the national team) - we have never been advised about terms and conditions," the executive bemoaned.
All the executives spoken to say they have difficulty understanding how the JFF could be out of funds. This situation, they theorise, could only come about because of financial mismanagement.
"In the last campaign, the JFF was in a position to make some money from televised games after the National Stadium was sold out but the president insisted that if it was not $5 million per match then it would not happen. That was not a decision which was made by the executive.
"Instead of earning some money, we made nothing and now we are bawling. It is things like these which have come to haunt.
"I also do not understand how they could say now that they are in dire straits when the general secretary just spent two trips back and forth between Korea and Japan. One would have thought that prudence and frugality would have been the order of the day, especially at a time when they say they have no money and players are going into camp and leaving without even as much as bus fare."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From the Sunday Gleaner
The Sunday Gleaner apologises to the Burrell.Reid and JFF
Sun Jul 28 08:31:25 2002
63.15.60.159
JFF refutes claims
RESPONDING TO articles published in the July 10 editions of the Daily Gleaner and STAR tabloid, headlined 'Mutiny on JFF Ship' and 'Mutiny' respectively, the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) has presented evidence of its financial standing and procedures.
Answering claims of insolvency, a JFF letter to The Gleaner said the Federation's unaudited balance sheet showed "cash in the bank and on hand of $3,106,284 plus accounts receivables of $6,126,901.00 as at June 30, 2002".
"The JFF therefore has adequate cash resources to meet its current liabilities of $6,130,028.00," the letter emphasised.
The JFF was recently forced to suspend the national football programme after two members of its coaching staff quit, "unable to operate on a drastic salary cut", caused by what it stated was a 65 per cent reduction in subvention from the Sports Development Foundation.
Outlining its decision to suspend the programme then, the JFF said "great efforts were made to secure adequate financing...but to date there has been no success in alleviating the financial crisis".
Addressing the matter of match tickets and transparency raised in the articles, accompanying correspondence from accounting firm KMPG Peat Marwick supported the JFF's letter which stated, "under the stewardship of Captain Burrell and Horace Reid, the JFF has established and adhered to an effective and transparent system for the printing, delivery and sale of match tickets".
The JFF also presented correspondence between KPMG Peat Marwick and KPMG Fides Peat of Zurich, Switzerland, in which the local accounting firm, referring to a sum of US$250,000 received from FIFA, stated the money "was used by the national association in accordance with the terms of the relating application approved by FIFA".
Concerning further allegations from the said articles, suggesting the JFF "made nothing" from broadcast rights, the Federation's audited financial statements, as at March 31, 2001, showed earnings of $17,005,140 and $8,024,506 for the years 2001 and 2000 respectively.
In addition, JFF treasurer Peter Reid has denied allegations that he is bypassed during the ticket-handling procedure ahead of games. "As treasurer of the JFF, I categorically deny the allegation that I am not involved in matters concerning tickets for games," Reid wrote The Gleaner in a letter dated July 19.
"I am intimately involved with the tickets for games, as I am a member of the Finance Committee of the JFF," he said, adding: "At meetings of this committee we discuss ticket printing, distribution, sales, reconciliation and the review of the KPMG Peat Marwick Audit Report on this exercise."
APOLOGY
ON JULY 10, 2002, The Gleaner Company Ltd. published an article captioned "Mutiny on JFF Ship" in The Gleaner, and an identical article captioned "JFF executives not on board with Burrell" in The Star.
These articles spoke of financial insolvency, lack of transparency with respect to the handling of match tickets and a FIFA grant, and insinuations of financial mismanagement and impropriety on the part of Captain Horace Burrell and Mr. Horace Reid, the JFF's President and General Secretary respectively.
Prior to publishing these articles, The Gleaner Company Ltd. did not provide Captain Burrell and Mr. Reid with an opportunity to respond to these allegations.
The Gleaner Company Ltd. apologises to Captain Burrell, Mr. Reid and the JFF for any embarrassment or injury which these articles may have caused.
Edited by - Karl on Jul 29 2002 09:15:07 |
|
Nodley Wright/JFF - Apologise? What for?
