Boxhill was rejected, claims Horace Reid

[Karl]

The tribalism that seems to linger even while Burrell and his team are headed back to the JFF. What is Reid on about now?

Karl, unfortunately there is something to be said about being at ground zero. You cannot stay at your Florida mansion and know what is really taking place in Jamaica. Be in stands at a Reggae Boyz game, attend some practice sessions at UWI, in other words BE HERE! You and Lazie believe you can really take the political and footballical pulse from across the waters. You can't!

I bet you I am speaking to just about as many persons 'on the ground' as you have?

Let's face facts Mosiah if Boxhill had really moved the football onward the good Captain would not stand a chance.

I'll add, if the good Captain comes in and performs as he did during his last elected period 'dwag nyaam im suppa'...one term only! As I said, repeatedly during his last term and during Boxhill's term each succeeding president will come increasingly under the spotlight...the demands for transparency and performance will increasingly become 'louder and louder'.

The Captain better do a serious read of our columns and this board. What is said here is a reflection of what the people want.

[Mosiah]

Did you say, "A Jamaican judge..."?

[Jamaica2099]

So Mosiah. What do you think of Boxhill's former supporters that put him in the JFF Office in the first place.
And what parishes are they from?

[Mosiah]

They did the right thing by putting him in office. Nothing wrng with them switching if Boxhill doesn't get the job done. Same thing happened with Burrell. If you snooze, you lose.

I have no idea which parish they are from.

[OJ]

ya Horace should leave it alone. Because the bigger we divide the harder it is to mend.

[Time]

Yes -but I don't imply I don't meant to imply that this is a legal matter. Just poking fun at the inability of our judges to make logical judgement.

[Karl]

Gleaner EDITORIAL: New JFF leadership to push...

EDITORIAL - New JFF leadership to push 'Back to Africa'
published: Monday | August 13, 2007


CRENSTON BOXHILL'S turbulent reign as president of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) is at an end. Last Thursday evening, the embattled Boxhill, who started the job with the JFF heavily indebted to the tune of nearly $30 million, declared that he would not seek re-election when the federation elects a new executive on November 4.

A former team manager of the Reggae Boyz, which qualified for the World Cup Finals in France, 1998, Boxhill won a bitterly fought election to take over the JFF presidency from Captain Horace Burrell in November 2003.

Ever since, Boxhill's every move has been challenged. In the second year of his administration, he survived a no-confidence vote at the JFF annual conference, the majority of the votes against him not reaching the required two-thirds margin. Even so, with close to two years left in his four-year term, the writing was pretty much on the wall.

In the meantime, the JFF's finances were getting better as it gradually reached stability with debt erosion. It was less aggressive in its approach to hosting friendly internationals and the utilisation of Jamaica's better talent, its professionals, who ply their trade in Europe's world-class leagues, and North America.

As a consequence,team performance, which could have quietened the voices and healed some of the wounds within the fraternity, suffered - a factor mirrored brightly, but painfully, by the failure to qualify in successive World Cup Final bids. Jamaica is now ranked at 97th in the world, its lowest ever FIFA rating in over 12 years.

Yet, the nation's talent proved how underrated it really is as just weeks ago in Brazil, the Under-20 team won the silver medal at the Pan American Games. It was the first time that a Jamaican football team had ever won a medal at the Games, having beaten the likes of Argentina, Colombia and Mexico, on the way to its gold medal match with Ecuador.

The Pan-Am Under-20 team's success represented one of those fleeting moments that came few and far between and added some amount of strength to the Boxhill mission for youth development. Yet, failure in the senior regional competition against regional minnows last year, with elimination in a four-nation preliminary tournament at the National Stadium in Kingston - one that also meant no Gold Cup this year - only added fuel to the fire.

In announcing his intention not to seek re-election, Burrell listed the deep divisions within the football fraternity and the level of influence that Captain Burrell holds over football because he sponsors most of the parish leagues. But Horace Reid, the former general secretary of the JFF, refuted that claim, saying Boxhill's withdrawal was prompted by the fact that he does not have the support of the delegates because 11 of the 13 parish associations have already nominated Captain Burrell. A candidate for any elected position must be nominated by at least three parish associations.

The Reggae Boyz of the 1998 'Road to France' campaign excited national spirit like no other sporting team ever did. With the qualifiers for South Africa beginning in the first quarter of next year, we hope that the football band will be playing the same tempo to ensure the team a realistic chance of making it 'Back to Africa'.


Theopinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner. To respond to a Gleaner editorial, email us: editor@gleanerjm.com or fax: 922-6223. Responses should be no longer than 400 words. Not all responses will be published.

[Mosiah]

It's simply amazing how Boxhill's administration was able to make money and even more amazing how Burrell's was not able to do so! One admin had few games, no hex tourneys and poor results. The other had one world cup, two world championships, two hex tourneys, over-packed stadia and decent overall results.

What gives?