Fiery Seaga sets JFF straight

[Karl]

Fiery Seaga sets JFF straight

Published: Saturday | May 21,

Andre Lowe, Senior Staff Reporter

Chairman of the Premier League Clubs Association (PLCA), Edward Seaga, was in no mood to entertain suggestions made by Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) general secretary, Horace Reid, that the island's premier football competition is in need of serious restructuring if it is to remain sustainable.

Speaking at Thursday night's Digicel Premier League awards ceremony at the Courtleigh Auditorium, Seaga, who is also president of the Tivoli Gardens Football Club and chairman of the Professional Football Association of Jamaica (PFAJ), dismissed Reid's notion and defended the current management and sustainability of the league.

"I don't understand why it was said that the Premier League was unsustainable. The Premier League owes no money, the Premier League has no debt, and the Premier League has never had a bailiff at its doors," Seaga jibed in reference to the JFF's mammoth debt and last year's bailiff visit at their New Kingston secretariat.

franchise system
There are suggestions that the JFF is considering the implementation of a franchise system, among several proposals, for revamping of the competition in an effort to spread the league across the entire island and explore other economic models.

"The Premier League as presently structured is not sustainable, if it is not changed and revamped very soon, it is likely to not go very far," Reid had said in media interviews.

"One of the mandates of the JFF is to look at our overall structure; look at our governance structure, our competition structure and just about everything that influence Jamaica's football development," Reid added, during an interview with The Gleaner ahead of Seaga's presentation. "As a result of that it is now timely that we are now looking at several proposals that were submitted by members of the football family and at different levels,

discussion will be ongoing and hopefully it will get to the board and levels where we can move on decision.

"The time frame depends on how the discussions take place going forward, but we are hoping that it can happen sooner rather than later," Reid said.

These discussions apparently have not reached the attention of the PLCA and the PFAJ, adding further infuriation to the situation, as far as Seaga is concerned.

much improvement made

"I am not sure why the statement was made without any discussion with us or without even notifying us," said Seaga. "The PLCA over the four years of its operation has gained much ground ... it has improved infrastructure, improved financing and it has become a reliable organisation in an area of some turbulence.

"I have an idea what this is referring to, but I must say to the general secretary that this is a very poorly put statement because it is in effect casting doubt on the ability of the PLCA to take care of its responsibilities and we have done so much more than other organisations in local football," Seaga added.

"We had a problem before when the JFF was handling our finances, we had to dip both hands into our pockets to make it good; today we only have to dip our hands in one pocket so it's an improvement," Seaga pointed out.

There has been considerable discussion around the fact that the national league is dominated by teams in Kingston and St Andrew, but Seaga warned that any attempt to spread the national league can only be done on merit.

"Four of the top five teams in this year's competition are in the Kingston area. And I know that there is a desire to spread it further, but the present system says we spread it by merit. Any attempt to politically decide on a system that is going to create more teams in the Premier League simply to spread the number of teams in other areas, regardless of whether they are footballers or not, cannot be afforded," Seaga affirmed. "We do not wish to see the quality of the Premier League diluted."

- Andre Lowe

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/2.../sports21.html

[Karl]

Seaga paints ruddy picture of DPL

Seaga paints ruddy picture of DPL
BY HOWARD WALKER Observer staff reporter walkerh@jamaicaobserver.com
Sunday, May 22, 2011


CHAIRMAN of the Premier League Clubs Association (PLCA), Edward Seaga, has hit back hard at general secretary of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), Horace Reid, for his remarks that the Premier League, in its current structure, is not sustainable and needs revamping.


Reid, in an earlier interview, was quoted as saying: "The Premier League as currently structured is not sustainable. If it is not changed and revamped very soon, it's likely to not go very far. Technical and economic models will need to be changed and reviewed."



Seaga, who is also the president of local champions Tivoli Gardens, said he was amazed at the statements made by Reid.

"I have an idea what it is referring to, but I must say to the general secretary that is a poorly put statement because it is casting doubt on the PLCA to take care of its responsibility," said Seaga as he made his address at the Digicel Premier League Awards Ceremony at the Courtleigh Hotel Auditorium on Thursday night.

"I don't know why this statement was made without even notifying us of the intention. I don't know why it is said that the Premier League is unsustainable. The Premier League owes no money, we have no debt and the Premier League never had a bailiff at its door," Seaga pointed out to loud bursts of laughter.

The former prime minister was obviously alluding to to the poor financial state the JFF found itself in last year when it was badly indebted and at one point, had to divert wage bills to prevent a bailiff from seizing assets at its office in New Kingston.

"This is not to say that there are no problems. There are problems of infrastructure; the fields are not good fields for the quality that we want; the financing is still low, still insufficient," Seaga noted.

The PLCA chairman and former minister of finance said he was glad to report of their success in sponsorship since wrestling their finances from the JFF.

"I am glad to report to you what success we had in sponsorships. In years one, two, three and four, we totalled over $330 milion, an average of $83 million per annum," he announced.

"This is to be compared with year zero, which is the year before we took over, when the sponsorships of the clubs were then operated by the then JFF. At that time the clubs got $700,000 each; today they are getting 12 times that amount," said Seaga.

"The money we obtain from sponsorships are distributed to all the clubs equally. It makes no difference if you are at the top or at the bottom. There is an equal share of all the resources. Those sponsorship funds are used to do many things -- in infrastructure to improve the playing field, provide lighting and to provide seating," he noted.

He added: "There is no club that can say they have an easy time in financing themselves, but we can say we are more comfortable now than we were before," he declared.

Meanwhile, Seaga said the current three year $150-million sponsorship package of the league by Digicel set to expire this year, there are plans to broaden the horizon and give other potential sponsors more leverage.
"We are beginning discussion with them for a new three-year signing. At the moment there is nothing, but we believe there will be something satisfying for everyone," said Seaga.

"This year we decided to split the package and to offer the other areas of sponsorship in packages. One of the areas that we expect to split will be the title on the shirts that the players wear. These are prime advertising contents.

"It is an option that we're looking at because we want to broaden the sponsorships that we have to ensure that there is a wider range of support," he reiterated.

Meanwhile, there will be a concerted effort by the PLCA to open doors for players to ply their trade in the United States of America (USA).
"We look in dismay at the closing of the doors in other countries like the United Kingdom where it was the dream of every player to go, only to find that more and more restrictions.

"Players are now going not only the United Kingdom or going to Europe, they are going as far as Vietnam. A number of Jamaicans are campaigning there and I can tell you, it's a good marketplace for Jamaicans. How they manage with food and the language I don't know, but they are still there and I believe it is because the money is good," said Seaga.



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