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Row over Jamaica debt could spell trouble for England's 2018 bid
• Island wanted to use cash for youth training centre
• FA says it still expects to be paid £135,000
Recent developments could anger Fifa vice-president Jack Warner, whose support is crucial for the FA's World Cup bid. Photograph: Wilfredo Lee/AP
England's 2018 World Cup bid is in danger of losing the vital Caribbean block of votes in a row over a £135,000 debt owed to the Football Association.
Jamaica's football federation president, Captain Horace Burrell, has expressed dismay at the FA's decision to report the debt to the world governing body, Fifa, despite high-level talks over the issue. After two separate meetings with the FA's Simon Johnson, Burrell had understood that Soho Square would write off the debt in return for an FA-badged youth-development facility in Jamaica.
The FA's interpretation of those talks differs. It says that there were discussions regarding a training centre in Jamaica but that the debt remains to be paid. No plan for diverting the debt towards building a training centre in Jamaica has yet been put to the FA board. "At no time did Simon Johnson make any promise that any training facility built in Jamaica would be funded with the outstanding debt," said the FA in a statement. "While we acknowledge that the subject was raised by the JFF and discussed, Johnson did make clear that, in any event, any proposals from the JFF for such a facility would need to be discussed and ratified by the FA board.
"We did - as a matter of procedure - alert Fifa to this earlier in the year," added the FA. "This debt remains to be paid in full, and we expect the JFF to repay it."
The £135,000 bill relates to match tickets the FA supplied at cost to visiting supporters for the England v Jamaica match at Old Trafford in June 2006 and predates Burrell's presidency. On taking office the liability was Burrell's first priority. The matter was discussed with Johnson when he, Jane Bateman, the FA's head of international development, and Peter Hargitay, then the FA's strategic adviser for the World Cup bid, were in the Caribbean to announce England's international against Trinidad & Tobago on June 1.
The FA group then travelled to Kingston for the Jamaica v Trinidad game on March 26. Johnson briefed journalists the following day on talks over the debt. "We have extended our hand of friendship. We hope to give our assistance to come up with a solution that we hope will be to the benefit of not just the FA but the benefit of the JFF and football here in Jamaica."
Burrell has confirmed to the Guardian that he proposed the transformation of the debt. "Simon Johnson agreed that the debt would be turned into something positive. We suggested using the funds owed to assist in a youth-development centre. We even suggested that we wanted to invite the FA leadership to be present at the inauguration. We also discussed that the centre would bear the [crest] of the FA; we would have accommodated this so we could specially, and the public at large, be able to express our gratitude."
While considering the idea, Johnson told the JFF that he would require board approval before proceeding with the project. Burrell, Horace Reid, the JFF's general secretary, and Hargitay then travelled to London for a follow-up meeting on April 22 at which, according to Burrell, the Jamaican party expected to finalise the proposal. Burrell said he was told "the FA would sign off the proposals at a meeting towards the end of the year and that it was only a matter of protocol. Simon never told us that this was ever going to be a problem. On the contrary. To hear anything else at this stage is mind-boggling."
When contacted by the Guardian on the matter earlier this month Johnson said: "The FA do a lot of work around the world under Jane Bateman. We do a lot of stuff in Concacaf [the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football] and it would be for us to develop football in the region with a legacy for football that is characteristic of the way we develop the World Cup bid.
"It was very exploratory. We are hoping to convert it into something a little more concrete. It has to be raised through the proper accounting processes."
However, on Wednesday the FA confirmed that the matter had not been submitted to its board for discussion. "Not having heard of this, we had all our plans and hopes about hearing something positive in September," said Burrell. "We were hoping for an early Christmas present."
The FA insists it has not pursued the JFF "aggressively" for the money but its confirmation that the debt remains to be paid in full has caused consternation in the Caribbean. Burrell said he had relayed the content of his talks with Johnson to the Fifa vice-president Jack Warner, the president of the Concacaf region, who has been England's most vocal and powerful 2018 World Cup supporter. The JFF's belief that the debt would be waived was also revealed to senior Fifa executives.
"The implications are tremendous," said Burrell when the Guardian informed him of the FA's debt-recovery plans. "This is why I can't accept it and I am prepared immediately to contact the English FA and we will take it from there. I am quite prepared to fly to London and speak with the FA to try to seek a solution to this very surprising new development because Jamaica is a very poor federation."
The row will cast a shadow over the World Cup bid at a time when the FA needs goodwill in the international community. Burrell says neither Johnson nor anyone from the FA has been in touch with the JFF to confirm that the £135,000 must be repaid rather than invested in a youth facility. The first he knew of it, he says, was when the Guardian informed him.
It might affect the support of Warner, whose Concacaf regional block provides three of the 24 votes that will decide who will host the 2018 World Cup. "Following protocol, I will have to advise President Warner what I have just been told and what I am learning and then I will call the FA to find out," said Burrell. "I can't see the FA at this point in time not recognising the tremendous positive impact that would be thrown out in the rain.
"This was not something that was just done in a boardroom, it was highly publicised and everybody in the Caribbean region would have been so thankful to the English FA, who they all look up to."
• Island wanted to use cash for youth training centre
• FA says it still expects to be paid £135,000
Recent developments could anger Fifa vice-president Jack Warner, whose support is crucial for the FA's World Cup bid. Photograph: Wilfredo Lee/APEngland's 2018 World Cup bid is in danger of losing the vital Caribbean block of votes in a row over a £135,000 debt owed to the Football Association.
Jamaica's football federation president, Captain Horace Burrell, has expressed dismay at the FA's decision to report the debt to the world governing body, Fifa, despite high-level talks over the issue. After two separate meetings with the FA's Simon Johnson, Burrell had understood that Soho Square would write off the debt in return for an FA-badged youth-development facility in Jamaica.
The FA's interpretation of those talks differs. It says that there were discussions regarding a training centre in Jamaica but that the debt remains to be paid. No plan for diverting the debt towards building a training centre in Jamaica has yet been put to the FA board. "At no time did Simon Johnson make any promise that any training facility built in Jamaica would be funded with the outstanding debt," said the FA in a statement. "While we acknowledge that the subject was raised by the JFF and discussed, Johnson did make clear that, in any event, any proposals from the JFF for such a facility would need to be discussed and ratified by the FA board.
"We did - as a matter of procedure - alert Fifa to this earlier in the year," added the FA. "This debt remains to be paid in full, and we expect the JFF to repay it."
The £135,000 bill relates to match tickets the FA supplied at cost to visiting supporters for the England v Jamaica match at Old Trafford in June 2006 and predates Burrell's presidency. On taking office the liability was Burrell's first priority. The matter was discussed with Johnson when he, Jane Bateman, the FA's head of international development, and Peter Hargitay, then the FA's strategic adviser for the World Cup bid, were in the Caribbean to announce England's international against Trinidad & Tobago on June 1.
The FA group then travelled to Kingston for the Jamaica v Trinidad game on March 26. Johnson briefed journalists the following day on talks over the debt. "We have extended our hand of friendship. We hope to give our assistance to come up with a solution that we hope will be to the benefit of not just the FA but the benefit of the JFF and football here in Jamaica."
Burrell has confirmed to the Guardian that he proposed the transformation of the debt. "Simon Johnson agreed that the debt would be turned into something positive. We suggested using the funds owed to assist in a youth-development centre. We even suggested that we wanted to invite the FA leadership to be present at the inauguration. We also discussed that the centre would bear the [crest] of the FA; we would have accommodated this so we could specially, and the public at large, be able to express our gratitude."
While considering the idea, Johnson told the JFF that he would require board approval before proceeding with the project. Burrell, Horace Reid, the JFF's general secretary, and Hargitay then travelled to London for a follow-up meeting on April 22 at which, according to Burrell, the Jamaican party expected to finalise the proposal. Burrell said he was told "the FA would sign off the proposals at a meeting towards the end of the year and that it was only a matter of protocol. Simon never told us that this was ever going to be a problem. On the contrary. To hear anything else at this stage is mind-boggling."
When contacted by the Guardian on the matter earlier this month Johnson said: "The FA do a lot of work around the world under Jane Bateman. We do a lot of stuff in Concacaf [the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football] and it would be for us to develop football in the region with a legacy for football that is characteristic of the way we develop the World Cup bid.
"It was very exploratory. We are hoping to convert it into something a little more concrete. It has to be raised through the proper accounting processes."
However, on Wednesday the FA confirmed that the matter had not been submitted to its board for discussion. "Not having heard of this, we had all our plans and hopes about hearing something positive in September," said Burrell. "We were hoping for an early Christmas present."
The FA insists it has not pursued the JFF "aggressively" for the money but its confirmation that the debt remains to be paid in full has caused consternation in the Caribbean. Burrell said he had relayed the content of his talks with Johnson to the Fifa vice-president Jack Warner, the president of the Concacaf region, who has been England's most vocal and powerful 2018 World Cup supporter. The JFF's belief that the debt would be waived was also revealed to senior Fifa executives.
"The implications are tremendous," said Burrell when the Guardian informed him of the FA's debt-recovery plans. "This is why I can't accept it and I am prepared immediately to contact the English FA and we will take it from there. I am quite prepared to fly to London and speak with the FA to try to seek a solution to this very surprising new development because Jamaica is a very poor federation."
The row will cast a shadow over the World Cup bid at a time when the FA needs goodwill in the international community. Burrell says neither Johnson nor anyone from the FA has been in touch with the JFF to confirm that the £135,000 must be repaid rather than invested in a youth facility. The first he knew of it, he says, was when the Guardian informed him.
It might affect the support of Warner, whose Concacaf regional block provides three of the 24 votes that will decide who will host the 2018 World Cup. "Following protocol, I will have to advise President Warner what I have just been told and what I am learning and then I will call the FA to find out," said Burrell. "I can't see the FA at this point in time not recognising the tremendous positive impact that would be thrown out in the rain.
"This was not something that was just done in a boardroom, it was highly publicised and everybody in the Caribbean region would have been so thankful to the English FA, who they all look up to."
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