Tweet
W'house players strike over trip
published: Saturday | October 28, 2006 <DIV class=KonaBody>
Paul-Andre Walker, Staff Reporter
Hibbert
The Wray and Nephew National Premier League (NPL) defending champions, Waterhouse, are having internal struggles.
The team, which is the only unbeaten one left in top flight football here in Jamaica, didn't train yesterday and speculations are that their game against Reno at Frome might be in jeopardy.
The ripples in the team began after they won the NPL last season and were promised an overseas outing in July.
Word coming out of the players' camp is that the trip was sold to them as a way of giving players a chance to experience a different country. However, the date of the trip kept getting pushed back, much to the consternation of the team.
On Wednesday, the players found out that 15 of their number were being given tickets for the trip, which they say is a no-no, given the size of the squad.
What was also unknown to the players at the time of the trip's announcement was that they were supposed to play in two practice games while overseas.
This of course means that there is also an issue regarding the procedure the club would have to go through with the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) to make the trip possible.
The Gleaner spoke to JFF general secretary, Burchell Gibson, about what was required and he said the club would have to receive the ok from the club they were playing against with the guarantee that the United States Soccer Federation was sanctioning the event.
Request to US embassy
At that point the JFF would make a request to the US Embassy on behalf of Waterhouse for the relevant visas to be issued.
However, at this point that is yet to be done, Gibson had said, pointing to problems getting an overseas team to comply with their part of the process.
When The Gleaner contacted Waterhouse president, Peter Hibbert, he was not aware of the players' decision to stay away from training until he had met with them.
"I am not aware of some of the issues. I was called this morning to attend a meeting by one of the players, but as you know working with Waterhouse is voluntary, it is not my job, and I had prior commitments plus a meeting with the JFF to deal with the Caribbean Club Championships. I explained this to the players so that is clear," Hibbert had said.
With regard to the stand off surrounding the trip, Hibbert was also very clear saying:
"As it relates to the issue that I know of, Waterhouse made an attempt and bought fees that are non-refundable to go to the embassy. They (the US Embassy) have their regulations and until that is dealt with we are not even going to talk about the trip," said Hibbert.
According to Gibson, the club had contacted him about three or four weeks ago to initiate the process but that is yet to be done. </DIV>
published: Saturday | October 28, 2006 <DIV class=KonaBody>
Paul-Andre Walker, Staff Reporter
Hibbert
The Wray and Nephew National Premier League (NPL) defending champions, Waterhouse, are having internal struggles.
The team, which is the only unbeaten one left in top flight football here in Jamaica, didn't train yesterday and speculations are that their game against Reno at Frome might be in jeopardy.
The ripples in the team began after they won the NPL last season and were promised an overseas outing in July.
Word coming out of the players' camp is that the trip was sold to them as a way of giving players a chance to experience a different country. However, the date of the trip kept getting pushed back, much to the consternation of the team.
On Wednesday, the players found out that 15 of their number were being given tickets for the trip, which they say is a no-no, given the size of the squad.
What was also unknown to the players at the time of the trip's announcement was that they were supposed to play in two practice games while overseas.
This of course means that there is also an issue regarding the procedure the club would have to go through with the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) to make the trip possible.
The Gleaner spoke to JFF general secretary, Burchell Gibson, about what was required and he said the club would have to receive the ok from the club they were playing against with the guarantee that the United States Soccer Federation was sanctioning the event.
Request to US embassy
At that point the JFF would make a request to the US Embassy on behalf of Waterhouse for the relevant visas to be issued.
However, at this point that is yet to be done, Gibson had said, pointing to problems getting an overseas team to comply with their part of the process.
When The Gleaner contacted Waterhouse president, Peter Hibbert, he was not aware of the players' decision to stay away from training until he had met with them.
"I am not aware of some of the issues. I was called this morning to attend a meeting by one of the players, but as you know working with Waterhouse is voluntary, it is not my job, and I had prior commitments plus a meeting with the JFF to deal with the Caribbean Club Championships. I explained this to the players so that is clear," Hibbert had said.
With regard to the stand off surrounding the trip, Hibbert was also very clear saying:
"As it relates to the issue that I know of, Waterhouse made an attempt and bought fees that are non-refundable to go to the embassy. They (the US Embassy) have their regulations and until that is dealt with we are not even going to talk about the trip," said Hibbert.
According to Gibson, the club had contacted him about three or four weeks ago to initiate the process but that is yet to be done. </DIV>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>HIBBERT ... I am not employed to Waterhouse, I'm a businessman with other important matters to deal with </SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>"The main reason for the stance the players are taking is to try to address the inconsistency of the promises made to the players by the executive body and more so the president based on promises that he has made and has so far failed to deliver...," said team captain, Desmond Breakenridge.
Comment