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Premier League sponsor to be announced soon - Digicel ends contract; shifts focus to youth development
Published: Saturday | June 25, 2011
Jermaine Lannaman, Gleaner Writer
Chairman of the Premier League Clubs Association (PLCA), Edward Seaga, said there could be an announcement as early as next week as to a new sponsor for the National Premier League, after former sponsors Digicel decided not to renew its sponsorship for the upcoming season.
According to Seaga, the announcement, which could come as early as Tuesday, will see an equally powerful sponsor as Digicel taking over, and the hope is that it will be as fruitful as the telecoms giant which, he said, helped to take the Premier League to another level.
Digicel signed a three-year contract with the Premier League in 2008.
"In a sense, it is a loss not to have Digicel on board with us again, but we have no regrets. Digicel, ever since their involvement, tried to help take the league to new heights and for that we are thankful," said Seaga.
"But having said that, we are not overly concerned as we already have a bid for title sponsorship that we are satisfied with, and come next week will be making an announcement.
"We also hope that this new sponsor will bring added benefits to the league, as did Digicel, and we will be able to see improvements among key stakeholders," added Seaga, who is also the chairman of the Professional Football Association of Jamaica.
$300 million in three years
Digicel, wich pumped over $300 million in the league over the past three years, took the decision not to renew its sponsorship due to what it says is a refocus of strategy with regard to the development of local football.
According to Digicel's senior sponsorship manager, Shelly-Ann Curran, rather than focusing on development at the top, they will be focusing more on youth and grass-roots football development.
"We are very pleased with the advancements that the Premier League game has made under the management of the PLCA, and we're even more pleased with the growth and development of the players - with some of them having gone on to sign contracts with top international clubs," said Curran.
"With the wealth of football talent in Jamaica, and seeing the talent that exists at the youth level, we now want to focus on developing the game at the youth and grassroots level.
"The exciting new programme will see Digicel enhancing its existing commitment to youth football (through the current schoolboy football competitions of which Digicel is a primary sponsor) by rolling out an extensive multimillion-dollar grass-roots programme of coaching clinics and referee programmes," she added.
Quizzed further as to whether or not Digicel would continue to be involved with the Premier League, at another level, Curran said anything is possible.
"We never know what the future holds. However, at the moment we are focusing on our renewed commitment to youth football and the development of the game at the grass-roots level so as to ensure that football in Jamaica is sustainable," she said.
Published: Saturday | June 25, 2011
Jermaine Lannaman, Gleaner Writer
Chairman of the Premier League Clubs Association (PLCA), Edward Seaga, said there could be an announcement as early as next week as to a new sponsor for the National Premier League, after former sponsors Digicel decided not to renew its sponsorship for the upcoming season.
According to Seaga, the announcement, which could come as early as Tuesday, will see an equally powerful sponsor as Digicel taking over, and the hope is that it will be as fruitful as the telecoms giant which, he said, helped to take the Premier League to another level.
Digicel signed a three-year contract with the Premier League in 2008.
"In a sense, it is a loss not to have Digicel on board with us again, but we have no regrets. Digicel, ever since their involvement, tried to help take the league to new heights and for that we are thankful," said Seaga.
"But having said that, we are not overly concerned as we already have a bid for title sponsorship that we are satisfied with, and come next week will be making an announcement.
"We also hope that this new sponsor will bring added benefits to the league, as did Digicel, and we will be able to see improvements among key stakeholders," added Seaga, who is also the chairman of the Professional Football Association of Jamaica.
$300 million in three years
Digicel, wich pumped over $300 million in the league over the past three years, took the decision not to renew its sponsorship due to what it says is a refocus of strategy with regard to the development of local football.
According to Digicel's senior sponsorship manager, Shelly-Ann Curran, rather than focusing on development at the top, they will be focusing more on youth and grass-roots football development.
"We are very pleased with the advancements that the Premier League game has made under the management of the PLCA, and we're even more pleased with the growth and development of the players - with some of them having gone on to sign contracts with top international clubs," said Curran.
"With the wealth of football talent in Jamaica, and seeing the talent that exists at the youth level, we now want to focus on developing the game at the youth and grassroots level.
"The exciting new programme will see Digicel enhancing its existing commitment to youth football (through the current schoolboy football competitions of which Digicel is a primary sponsor) by rolling out an extensive multimillion-dollar grass-roots programme of coaching clinics and referee programmes," she added.
Quizzed further as to whether or not Digicel would continue to be involved with the Premier League, at another level, Curran said anything is possible.
"We never know what the future holds. However, at the moment we are focusing on our renewed commitment to youth football and the development of the game at the grass-roots level so as to ensure that football in Jamaica is sustainable," she said.