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Local clubs want $5M owed by JFF Federation reportedly owes English FA $17M
BY SEAN A WILLIAMS
Assistant Sports editor
THE cash-strapped Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) owes Premier League clubs some $5 million, and some are eager to collect.
According to a one-page JFF document obtained by this newspaper, Premier League champions Harbour View FC are owed $2.4 million in what has been described as prize money, travelling and logo and TV rights incentives for the 2006/2007 season of the then Wray & Nephew National Premier League.
General manager of Harbour View, Clyde Jureidini, said yesterday he did not wish “to make a comment at this time” as the JFF has given “a commitment” to settle the debt.
Another club, Waterhouse FC — owed $806,866 — are anxious to collect their money and treasurer Ainsley Smickle said the deficit has put pressure on the club in the first few weeks of the re-branded Cash Plus Premier League.
“It (money owed) has impacted on the running of our club... we need this money. And what has made it worse is that no commitment has been given and no one can tell us when we’re going to collect,” Smickle lamented.
When contacted yesterday, JFF treasurer Rudolph Speid refused to comment on the debt to the clubs and only offered that “from those days (previous administrations) the JFF has always been in deficit with clubs”, suggesting this situation was not new to the federation.
Meanwhile, Wray & Nephew, the previous sponsor of the premiership, said it has honoured all its obligation to the JFF and its Promotions and Communications Manager Andrew Price said he could not understand why the clubs are yet to be paid five months after the league ended.
“We have paid the money to the JFF in full and we’ve fulfilled all our obligations in a timely manner,” Price noted.
Price, who had direct responsibility for the execution of the sponsorship of the 12-team league, said the JFF made the final “draw-down in June or July”.
The Boys’ Town technical director said the JFF would usually make a monthly drawdown on the sponsorship funds for the administration of the competition. The league, he said, was sponsored to the tune of some $22.7 million last season, which marked the end of Wray & Nephew’s association after a six-year period.
The monies outstanding to local clubs is just another episode as the JFF buckles under the strain of rising debt and a chronic scarcity of funds which have severely hampered aspects of the national programme.
Earlier this year, the embattled JFF, led by president Crenston Boxhill, failed to send the Under-15 team to the CFU tournament in Trinidad & Tobago apparently due
to administrative bungling caused in part by money shortage.
As a result, organisers the CFU have slapped the JFF with a US$12,000-fine for the forfeiture.
Also, players on recent tours have complained of inadequate per diem, and it is rumoured that technical director Velibor ‘Bora’ Milutinovic is not being fully remunerated. The Observer has been unable to confirm this with the JFF.
When an Observer reporter quizzed treasurer Speid on the matter about a month ago, he replied, “it’s not your business; that’s between the federation and Mr Bora”.
The JFF’s audited statement ending December 31, 2006, in its summary of accounts payable, shows the body owing the English FA $17,876,526.84, but Speid declined to comment yesterday.
However, Observer sources claim the debt was incurred during the Reggae Boyz’s twomatch tour of England last summer where they lost 1-4 to Ghana and 0-6 to England.
Further, a commitment to begin monthly repayment to president-in-wating Captain Horace Burrell for a $14-million loan has not been honoured. The plan was scheduled to start on September 15, 2007, and with a final payment of US$12,247 due May 15, 2008.
The country’s world ranking hit an all-time low of 96th last month, largely due to the inactivity of the Senior team in a World Cup qualifying year. Last week, the Under-23 Olympic side made a humiliating exit from the CFU round-two qualifiers, losing 0-1 to lowly Bahamas and 1-2 Haiti.
BOXHILL... JFF president
BY SEAN A WILLIAMS
Assistant Sports editor
THE cash-strapped Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) owes Premier League clubs some $5 million, and some are eager to collect.
According to a one-page JFF document obtained by this newspaper, Premier League champions Harbour View FC are owed $2.4 million in what has been described as prize money, travelling and logo and TV rights incentives for the 2006/2007 season of the then Wray & Nephew National Premier League.
General manager of Harbour View, Clyde Jureidini, said yesterday he did not wish “to make a comment at this time” as the JFF has given “a commitment” to settle the debt.
Another club, Waterhouse FC — owed $806,866 — are anxious to collect their money and treasurer Ainsley Smickle said the deficit has put pressure on the club in the first few weeks of the re-branded Cash Plus Premier League.
“It (money owed) has impacted on the running of our club... we need this money. And what has made it worse is that no commitment has been given and no one can tell us when we’re going to collect,” Smickle lamented.
When contacted yesterday, JFF treasurer Rudolph Speid refused to comment on the debt to the clubs and only offered that “from those days (previous administrations) the JFF has always been in deficit with clubs”, suggesting this situation was not new to the federation.
Meanwhile, Wray & Nephew, the previous sponsor of the premiership, said it has honoured all its obligation to the JFF and its Promotions and Communications Manager Andrew Price said he could not understand why the clubs are yet to be paid five months after the league ended.
“We have paid the money to the JFF in full and we’ve fulfilled all our obligations in a timely manner,” Price noted.
Price, who had direct responsibility for the execution of the sponsorship of the 12-team league, said the JFF made the final “draw-down in June or July”.
The Boys’ Town technical director said the JFF would usually make a monthly drawdown on the sponsorship funds for the administration of the competition. The league, he said, was sponsored to the tune of some $22.7 million last season, which marked the end of Wray & Nephew’s association after a six-year period.
The monies outstanding to local clubs is just another episode as the JFF buckles under the strain of rising debt and a chronic scarcity of funds which have severely hampered aspects of the national programme.
Earlier this year, the embattled JFF, led by president Crenston Boxhill, failed to send the Under-15 team to the CFU tournament in Trinidad & Tobago apparently due
to administrative bungling caused in part by money shortage.
As a result, organisers the CFU have slapped the JFF with a US$12,000-fine for the forfeiture.
Also, players on recent tours have complained of inadequate per diem, and it is rumoured that technical director Velibor ‘Bora’ Milutinovic is not being fully remunerated. The Observer has been unable to confirm this with the JFF.
When an Observer reporter quizzed treasurer Speid on the matter about a month ago, he replied, “it’s not your business; that’s between the federation and Mr Bora”.
The JFF’s audited statement ending December 31, 2006, in its summary of accounts payable, shows the body owing the English FA $17,876,526.84, but Speid declined to comment yesterday.
However, Observer sources claim the debt was incurred during the Reggae Boyz’s twomatch tour of England last summer where they lost 1-4 to Ghana and 0-6 to England.
Further, a commitment to begin monthly repayment to president-in-wating Captain Horace Burrell for a $14-million loan has not been honoured. The plan was scheduled to start on September 15, 2007, and with a final payment of US$12,247 due May 15, 2008.
The country’s world ranking hit an all-time low of 96th last month, largely due to the inactivity of the Senior team in a World Cup qualifying year. Last week, the Under-23 Olympic side made a humiliating exit from the CFU round-two qualifiers, losing 0-1 to lowly Bahamas and 1-2 Haiti.
BOXHILL... JFF president