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'Western Confed' ... big joke
Western Bureau
Of all the structures within the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), the one I have the most difficulty with is the confederation system, which lumps a number of parishes together in a kind of loose arrangement, which makes very little sense to me.
While I only have a limited first hand knowledge of most of the Confederations, if what is happening in western confed-eration is indicative of what is happening elsewhere, then in terms of being a pillar in the development of national football, I would definitely label the 'confed' system a fraud.
Unlike progressive organ-isations, which have a proper system of accountability partly through the use of a constitution to guide its deliberations, the western confederation is laughable at best as it is tantamount to a rudderless ship, which I think is guilty of undermining the development of football in Hanover, West-moreland, Trelawny and St. James.
Outside of the staging of the Captain's Bakery-sponsored Western Confederation Super League, a JFF-mandated tournament, the western confederation basically does nothing else, possibly except for organising the launch of that competition and its end-of-season presentation ceremony.
As I have stated, repeatedly, in this column, the western confederation has become a political organisation through which various individuals seek to promote their personal interests in terms of seeking positions within the JFF. Should the JFF conduct a proper audit of the western confederation, I am positive that the results would be a colossal disgrace.
I am sure some people might be fooled into believing that things might not be as bad as I am making it out to be because we have three teams - Reno, Seba United and Village United - playing in the nation's NPL competition. However, a simple check should reveal that the clubs and the confederation do not interface at any level.
If the new JFF leadership is really honest in its promise to develop national football in totality, I believe it has an obligation to properly investigate the running of the western confederation, which is operated at a level that is perhaps worse than some of the most abominable dictatorships in the world.
It is a regular occurrence where one individual makes a decision and, then releases it as a confederation decision. There is also the recent situation in which former treasurer, Mark Calvin, resigned after publicly admitting that he had removed money from the accounts of the Western Referees Group.
In addition to the hanky panky of the former treasurer, there are clubs that have not been paid prize monies dating back as far as four to five years and, perhaps, even more embar-rassingly, referees and match commissaries are regularly left holding the bag as non-payment of fees is easily the confeder-ation's most defining feature.
It has come to my attention that the western confederation will be having elections in two weeks and as a consequence of the behind the scenes scheming in the nomination process, the current crop of failed leaders will be heading back into office. Needless to say, instead of better, I am expecting the worst.
As one who loves football and wants to see the west return to a position of prominence, I would dearly love to see the JFF doing a proper audit of the affairs of the western confederation in terms of programmes, financial manage-ment and general accountability before allowing the renewal that is poised to take place.
Unless the JFF is prepared to restructure the confederation and give it meaningful developmental responsibilities, it should be disbanded and each parish allowed to work as individual entities. In so doing, the progressive parishes will not be held back by those who are wasting time.
P.S. Please send your feedback to: adrianfrater@hotmail.com
Western Bureau
Of all the structures within the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), the one I have the most difficulty with is the confederation system, which lumps a number of parishes together in a kind of loose arrangement, which makes very little sense to me.
While I only have a limited first hand knowledge of most of the Confederations, if what is happening in western confed-eration is indicative of what is happening elsewhere, then in terms of being a pillar in the development of national football, I would definitely label the 'confed' system a fraud.
Unlike progressive organ-isations, which have a proper system of accountability partly through the use of a constitution to guide its deliberations, the western confederation is laughable at best as it is tantamount to a rudderless ship, which I think is guilty of undermining the development of football in Hanover, West-moreland, Trelawny and St. James.
Outside of the staging of the Captain's Bakery-sponsored Western Confederation Super League, a JFF-mandated tournament, the western confederation basically does nothing else, possibly except for organising the launch of that competition and its end-of-season presentation ceremony.
As I have stated, repeatedly, in this column, the western confederation has become a political organisation through which various individuals seek to promote their personal interests in terms of seeking positions within the JFF. Should the JFF conduct a proper audit of the western confederation, I am positive that the results would be a colossal disgrace.
I am sure some people might be fooled into believing that things might not be as bad as I am making it out to be because we have three teams - Reno, Seba United and Village United - playing in the nation's NPL competition. However, a simple check should reveal that the clubs and the confederation do not interface at any level.
If the new JFF leadership is really honest in its promise to develop national football in totality, I believe it has an obligation to properly investigate the running of the western confederation, which is operated at a level that is perhaps worse than some of the most abominable dictatorships in the world.
It is a regular occurrence where one individual makes a decision and, then releases it as a confederation decision. There is also the recent situation in which former treasurer, Mark Calvin, resigned after publicly admitting that he had removed money from the accounts of the Western Referees Group.
In addition to the hanky panky of the former treasurer, there are clubs that have not been paid prize monies dating back as far as four to five years and, perhaps, even more embar-rassingly, referees and match commissaries are regularly left holding the bag as non-payment of fees is easily the confeder-ation's most defining feature.
It has come to my attention that the western confederation will be having elections in two weeks and as a consequence of the behind the scenes scheming in the nomination process, the current crop of failed leaders will be heading back into office. Needless to say, instead of better, I am expecting the worst.
As one who loves football and wants to see the west return to a position of prominence, I would dearly love to see the JFF doing a proper audit of the affairs of the western confederation in terms of programmes, financial manage-ment and general accountability before allowing the renewal that is poised to take place.
Unless the JFF is prepared to restructure the confederation and give it meaningful developmental responsibilities, it should be disbanded and each parish allowed to work as individual entities. In so doing, the progressive parishes will not be held back by those who are wasting time.
P.S. Please send your feedback to: adrianfrater@hotmail.com
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