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Unhappy with the US visa policy
Harbour View's Kemeel Wolfe
Despite being quite competitive in the first leg of the two-way tie, which they drew 1-1 on their east Kingston home turf, I never really expected Harbour View FC to progress to the semi-finals of 2008 CONCACAF Champions Cup ahead of the American Major League Soccer (MLS) outfit DC United.
As a consequence, Harbour View's 5-0 loss in the return game in Washington DC 5-0 did not come as a surprise to me. What I found to be quite a bother was the fact that two influential members of the team, midfielder Kemeel Wolfe and striker Rafiek Thomas, were not granted visas to travel to the USA for the second game.
While it is not up to me to tell the US government how to handle their immigration business, especially in light of their terrorism paranoia, I believe Harbour View have more than good reason to feel somewhat cheated as unlike them, DC United faced no such interference and their full team travelled to Jamaica.
I am pretty sure that had the entire DC United team not been given clearance to enter Jamaica for their first leg game, the US would most definitely have cried foul. And who knows, with their economic power, we probably would be subjected to some sort of sanction or other punitive action aimed at putting us in our place as a powerless Third World country.
In light of the weakening of the Harbour View team through visa restriction, I believe the time has come for CONCACAF to take a serious look at this US policy, which puts countries like Jamaica at a disadvantage. Personally, I believe that if the Americans reserve the right not to accommodate all the members of a visiting team, CONCACAF should reserve the right to switch games to a neutral venue outside of the US.
For a country with the kind of resources and security competence of the United States, I can't see why, if they feel that one or two players on a visitor team are immigration or security risks, they can't throw a security cordon around these players in much the same way they do when their arch-enemies - former Cuban president Fidel Castro, Venezuela's Hugo Chávez and Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - visit the United Nations, in New York.
Harbour View's Kemeel Wolfe
Despite being quite competitive in the first leg of the two-way tie, which they drew 1-1 on their east Kingston home turf, I never really expected Harbour View FC to progress to the semi-finals of 2008 CONCACAF Champions Cup ahead of the American Major League Soccer (MLS) outfit DC United.
As a consequence, Harbour View's 5-0 loss in the return game in Washington DC 5-0 did not come as a surprise to me. What I found to be quite a bother was the fact that two influential members of the team, midfielder Kemeel Wolfe and striker Rafiek Thomas, were not granted visas to travel to the USA for the second game.
While it is not up to me to tell the US government how to handle their immigration business, especially in light of their terrorism paranoia, I believe Harbour View have more than good reason to feel somewhat cheated as unlike them, DC United faced no such interference and their full team travelled to Jamaica.
I am pretty sure that had the entire DC United team not been given clearance to enter Jamaica for their first leg game, the US would most definitely have cried foul. And who knows, with their economic power, we probably would be subjected to some sort of sanction or other punitive action aimed at putting us in our place as a powerless Third World country.
In light of the weakening of the Harbour View team through visa restriction, I believe the time has come for CONCACAF to take a serious look at this US policy, which puts countries like Jamaica at a disadvantage. Personally, I believe that if the Americans reserve the right not to accommodate all the members of a visiting team, CONCACAF should reserve the right to switch games to a neutral venue outside of the US.
For a country with the kind of resources and security competence of the United States, I can't see why, if they feel that one or two players on a visitor team are immigration or security risks, they can't throw a security cordon around these players in much the same way they do when their arch-enemies - former Cuban president Fidel Castro, Venezuela's Hugo Chávez and Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - visit the United Nations, in New York.
Seperate sports and politics please
Personally, I find the failure by countries such as United States and Great Britain to make a clear distinction between sports and politics most discouraging. One only needs to look at England's current sporting stance against Zimbabwe and the recent decision to drop Cuba from the 2008 Stanford 20/20 cricket to appease the US, as examples of this warped policy.
I believe CONCACAF would do well to adopt a stance similar to the IOC, which has made it quite clear that any attempt by England to block any IOC member from participating in the 2012 Olympics in London could result in their losing the Games. It will take a stance like that of the IOC to preserve the integrity of sports as a unifying force.
And speaking of the commendable stance of the IOC in regard to England, I found it quite strange that while Harbour View officials were busily seeking to get the US government to grant Wolfe and Thomas entry into their country, the voice of the Government and the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) were conspicuously absent - insofar as joining in the appeal was concerned.
Personally, I believe it would be in the best interest of the JFF and all other local sporting bodies to lobby the US government to develop a workable policy to accommodate our sporting figures entering the United States to represent club or country. If the US can block two players from Harbour View, I really don't see what could stop them from blocking a Reggae Boy or two when the 2010 FIFA World Cup campaign starts.
And just to play devil's advocate, with this existing policy by the Americans, what is to prevent them, if they choose to, from blocking the best players from the countries they will play against in the hope of creating an advantage for themselves. I have seen enough questionable things in American sports, including of a 'souped-up' Marion Jones, not to put anything pass them.
Personally, I find the failure by countries such as United States and Great Britain to make a clear distinction between sports and politics most discouraging. One only needs to look at England's current sporting stance against Zimbabwe and the recent decision to drop Cuba from the 2008 Stanford 20/20 cricket to appease the US, as examples of this warped policy.
I believe CONCACAF would do well to adopt a stance similar to the IOC, which has made it quite clear that any attempt by England to block any IOC member from participating in the 2012 Olympics in London could result in their losing the Games. It will take a stance like that of the IOC to preserve the integrity of sports as a unifying force.
And speaking of the commendable stance of the IOC in regard to England, I found it quite strange that while Harbour View officials were busily seeking to get the US government to grant Wolfe and Thomas entry into their country, the voice of the Government and the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) were conspicuously absent - insofar as joining in the appeal was concerned.
Personally, I believe it would be in the best interest of the JFF and all other local sporting bodies to lobby the US government to develop a workable policy to accommodate our sporting figures entering the United States to represent club or country. If the US can block two players from Harbour View, I really don't see what could stop them from blocking a Reggae Boy or two when the 2010 FIFA World Cup campaign starts.
And just to play devil's advocate, with this existing policy by the Americans, what is to prevent them, if they choose to, from blocking the best players from the countries they will play against in the hope of creating an advantage for themselves. I have seen enough questionable things in American sports, including of a 'souped-up' Marion Jones, not to put anything pass them.
Paul Marin -19 is one thing, 20 is a whole other matter. It gets even worse if they win the UCL. *groan*. 
05/18/2011.MU fans naah cough, but all a unuh a vomit?-Lazie 1/11/2015
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