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Captain Burrell got it right, will the rest of us?
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Captain Horace Burrell, president of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) gets it right in identifying a reduction of the federation's huge debt as one of the major goals of the new administration.
The federation members too seemed to have got it right when they unanimously returned Mr Burrell as president for another four-year term, at last Sunday's JFF Voting Congress in St James.
Having used this space on numerous occasions to advocate for the JFF to reschedule its Voting Congress to the same year as the FIFA World Cup Finals, we are now more hopeful that the local governing body will be better able to adequately manage its affairs.
We believe that aligning the Voting Congress with the World Cup Finals gives the elected administration the time and space necessary to start anew, then to properly plan and execute within that World Cup cycle.
It was never our view that qualification for FIFA World Cup Finals is the be-all and end-all of any JFF administration. We are firmly of the view that a successful JFF administration is much more than that.
Nonetheless, we are cognisant of the importance of qualifying for these tournaments in the Jamaican context. For one, it provides the JFF with invaluable international prominence, and just as important, it provides an avenue for the JFF to cash in on sponsorships and the numerous financial returns that would accrue.
In fact, based on the present economic climate, qualification to FIFA World Cup tournaments could very well represent the most realistic route to reducing the burdening financial debt that the JFF is currently carrying.
When Captain Burrell regained the presidency in November 2007, he inherited debt in excess of J$100 million from the Crenston Boxhill administration. We now understand that that debt has been reduced marginally to about J$90 million, still too deep in the red for comfort.
We have seen the consequences of the debt burden on the JFF, especially on the women's programme, where teams had to be withdrawn from FIFA qualifying tournaments.
That was particularly painful, especially after the women's teams promised so much under the same Boxhill regime. Then, we had at least two teams narrowly missing out of FIFA World Cup Finals.
Reducing the debt aside, Captain Burrell in his presidential address, also highlighted qualification to at least two FIFA World Cup tournaments as among the other major goals of his new administration.
Though we know that there are no guarantees in football, we believe that his administration has a glorious chance to add a fourth team to the FIFA World Cup Finals when Jamaica hosts the final round of the CONCACAF Under-17 World Cup Qualifying Series in western Jamaica next February.
When Jamaica did so at Jarrett Park in 1999, the team qualified for the New Zealand tournament to become the second Jamaican team to qualify for a FIFA World Cup Finals -- following on the heels of the senior Reggae Boyz to the France1998 tournament.
Let's not forget also that the JFF spearheaded the qualification of a team to the Youth World Cup in Argentina in 2001.
We wish Captain Burrell and his team the very best of success, at the same time, reminding the football-loving public that they too have a role to play in supporting the federation.
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/edito...of-us-_8102642
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Captain Horace Burrell, president of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) gets it right in identifying a reduction of the federation's huge debt as one of the major goals of the new administration.
The federation members too seemed to have got it right when they unanimously returned Mr Burrell as president for another four-year term, at last Sunday's JFF Voting Congress in St James.
Having used this space on numerous occasions to advocate for the JFF to reschedule its Voting Congress to the same year as the FIFA World Cup Finals, we are now more hopeful that the local governing body will be better able to adequately manage its affairs.
We believe that aligning the Voting Congress with the World Cup Finals gives the elected administration the time and space necessary to start anew, then to properly plan and execute within that World Cup cycle.
It was never our view that qualification for FIFA World Cup Finals is the be-all and end-all of any JFF administration. We are firmly of the view that a successful JFF administration is much more than that.
Nonetheless, we are cognisant of the importance of qualifying for these tournaments in the Jamaican context. For one, it provides the JFF with invaluable international prominence, and just as important, it provides an avenue for the JFF to cash in on sponsorships and the numerous financial returns that would accrue.
In fact, based on the present economic climate, qualification to FIFA World Cup tournaments could very well represent the most realistic route to reducing the burdening financial debt that the JFF is currently carrying.
When Captain Burrell regained the presidency in November 2007, he inherited debt in excess of J$100 million from the Crenston Boxhill administration. We now understand that that debt has been reduced marginally to about J$90 million, still too deep in the red for comfort.
We have seen the consequences of the debt burden on the JFF, especially on the women's programme, where teams had to be withdrawn from FIFA qualifying tournaments.
That was particularly painful, especially after the women's teams promised so much under the same Boxhill regime. Then, we had at least two teams narrowly missing out of FIFA World Cup Finals.
Reducing the debt aside, Captain Burrell in his presidential address, also highlighted qualification to at least two FIFA World Cup tournaments as among the other major goals of his new administration.
Though we know that there are no guarantees in football, we believe that his administration has a glorious chance to add a fourth team to the FIFA World Cup Finals when Jamaica hosts the final round of the CONCACAF Under-17 World Cup Qualifying Series in western Jamaica next February.
When Jamaica did so at Jarrett Park in 1999, the team qualified for the New Zealand tournament to become the second Jamaican team to qualify for a FIFA World Cup Finals -- following on the heels of the senior Reggae Boyz to the France1998 tournament.
Let's not forget also that the JFF spearheaded the qualification of a team to the Youth World Cup in Argentina in 2001.
We wish Captain Burrell and his team the very best of success, at the same time, reminding the football-loving public that they too have a role to play in supporting the federation.
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/edito...of-us-_8102642