From left: Jamaica's Minister of Finance and the Public Service, the Hon. Nigel Clarke, Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Hon. Olivia Grange, UK Minister to Latin America and the Caribbean, Baroness Jennifer Chapman and Jamaica's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator the Hon. Kamina Johnson Smith at Tuesday's press conference updating the media on the redevelopment of the National Stadium.
The redevelopment of the place that has played host to so many of Jamaica’s track and field heroes, the National Stadium, is close to beginning as Jamaica’s Ministry of Sport has accepted a joint proposal from UK based entities Ryder Architecture and CAA Icon to oversee the project.
Jamaica’s Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Hon. Olivia Grange made the announcement at a press conference on Tuesday providing updates on the redevelopment project.
“We met with representatives from both Ryder Architecture and CAA Icon and they submitted a joint proposal to us for the renovation and redevelopment of facilities at Independence Park, particularly the National Stadium,” the Minister said on Tuesday.
She continued: “The document, in essence, proposes to, not only address the shortcomings of the existing stadium, but to identify, through qualitative and quantitative assessment, the full potential for this iconic stadium with enhancement as a major tournament venue, training centre and visitor attraction to promote Jamaica and Jamaican sport talent.”
Ryder Architecture and CAA Icon have worked together many times and have been involved in stadiums around the world such as Wembley, the Emirates Stadium, the 02 Arena, Stadio Olimpico and the San Siro.
“My Ministry, through its oversight committee and the executing agency, Independence Park Limited, is of the view that Ryder Architecture and CAA Icon can deliver on the proposal given the entities’ years in the business of building and redeveloping sports facilities worldwide,” Grange said.
The project will see the capacity of the National Stadium increase from 28,500 to 35,000 and will make the country able to bid to host major global events like the World Athletics Championships.
Dispensing with the bleachers, establishing modern facilities for anti-doping, new facilities for media, the establishment of a modern and iconic sports museum, new modern lighting, new seating options, new conference and meeting facilities, premium suites and lounges and new concession facilities among other upgrades were discussed by Grange’s team and the entities.
The next step in the re-development project of the National Stadium is a stadium assessment and feasibility study.
“The study includes a thorough economic and feasibility analysis to identify local and international market demand to ensure that use, and therefore design proposals are aligned to economic demand,” Grange said before stating that these studies will commence in a few weeks and be completed within eight months.
The results of those studies will inform phase two which is the project initiation, concept design and approval stage.
Phase three will involve the detailed design and appointment of a contractor in which a groundbreaking date of August 2025 is being targeted.
Phase four will involve construction and phase five is the operational readiness and handover.
Grange anticipates that the whole project will last about 30 months or two and a half years.
The football field and running track will be unaffected during the construction process according to Independence Park Limited General Manager, Major Desmon Brown, who noted that the only inconvenience caused will be a limited capacity of seats for the duration of the process.
The funding for this project came from a government to government framework for co-operation agreement signed by Jamaica’s Finance Minister, the Hon. Nigel Clarke, and CEO of UK Export Finance, Tim Reid earlier this year.
Clarke, as well as UK Minister for Latin America and the Caribbean, Baroness Jennifer Chapman, were both in attendance on Tuesday.
“UK Export Finance are delighted that this agreement will enable them to support Jamaica’s game changing national priority projects and is proud to back the implementation of high-quality UK solutions and innovations alongside UK Government funding,” said Chapman.
“I’m delighted that we’ve been able to get this deal over the finish line before the departure of Mr. Clarke for his next role at the IMF,” she added.
“When I met the head of the UK Export Finance at a function at the UK High Commission, light bulbs began to go off because there he was in Jamaica looking for business and engagement and I know have projects that we want to develop but where the technical capacity is not abundantly available in Jamaica, for obvious reasons,” Clarke said.
“Sparks began to fly about how we could use the format of a government to government co-operation with the UK Export entity to provide the framework through which the feasibility could be delivered and the construction to follow for the stadium,” he added.
Bradley Jacks is a budding journalist and an avid sports fan. His love of research and sports has led him to SportsMax.tv, a place where those passions work hand in hand to allow him to produce content.
Guardiola agrees two-year contract extension with Man City
Pep Guardiola will be Manchester City manager for at least two more seasons after 2024-25, after he signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday.
The 53-year-old was coming to the end of his City deal, which was due to expire at the end of the current campaign, but he has opted to remain at the Etihad Stadium.
The deal itself will take Guardiola's tenure at the club to over a decade, making him City's longest-serving manager since Les McDowall in 1963.
There had been suggestions that he may leave at the end of the season following the announcement that director of football Txiki Begiristain was on his way out.
Guardiola was strongly linked with the England job after Gareth Southgate resigned in the wake of their Euro 2024 final defeat, but the Football Association appointed Thomas Tuchel last month.
“Manchester City means so much to me," Guardiola said. “This is my ninth season here; we have experienced so many amazing times together. I have a really special feeling for this football club.
“That is why I am so happy to be staying for another two more seasons.
“Thank you to everyone for continuing to trust and support me – The Owner, The Chairman Khaldoon, Ferran, Txiki, the players and, of course, the fans… everyone connected to Manchester City. It has always been an honour, a pleasure and a privilege to be here.
“I have said this many times before, but I have everything a manager could ever wish for, and I appreciate that so much.
“Hopefully, now we can add more trophies to the ones we have already won. That will be my focus.”
Having been appointed in 2016, Guardiola is by some distance Manchester City's most successful manager of all time, having won 18 major trophies during his time at the club.
That list includes their first-ever Champions League triumph in 2023 and six Premier League titles, including an unprecedented four on the spin.
He also boasts a 72.04% win percentage across all competitions, which is unsurprisingly the highest of any full-time City manager in history.
Shaw at the double as Man City progress in Champions League
Khadija Shaw scored twice as Manchester City beat Hammarby 2-1 to seal their place in the Women's Champions League quarter-finals.
Gareth Taylor's team entered Thursday's game with a perfect record in Group D, and their fourth win in as many European matches ensured they finished in the top two.
Shaw—the leading scorer in the Women's Super League this season with eight goals—put them ahead in the 31st minute, driving into the area after taking in Yui Hasegawa's pass before seeing her shot deflect into the top corner.
Shaw was booked for celebrating in front of the home fans despite appearing to have objects thrown at her from the stands, and Hammarby should have levelled when Julia Blakstad fired wide 10 minutes later.
The hosts did draw level three minutes into the second half as Ellen Wangerheim tapped home while City's Laura Blindkilde Brown was down appealing for a free-kick.
That parity was short-lived, though, as Shaw blasted into the top corner from 25 yards out, taking her overall tally for this season to 12 goals in all competitions.
In Group C, meanwhile, Bayern Munich lost their perfect record as they played out a 1-1 draw with Valerenga, boosting Arsenal's hopes of topping the pile.
Jovana Damnjanovic came off the bench to put Bayern ahead 15 minutes from time in Norway, but Elise Thorsnes headed home following an 88th-minute corner to snatch a point for the hosts.
Arsenal could now move within a point of Bayern when they face Juventus in Group C's other match later on Thursday.
Girlz coach Busby eyes improved performance as 'Bunny' Shaw returns for South Africa friendlies
With Jamaica’s senior Reggae Girlz failing to register a win since beating Panama at last year’s Fifa Women’s World Cup, Head coach Hubert Busby says the two highly anticipated home friendlies against South Africa represent an opportunity to turnaround their poor run of form.
Though focused on more than just immediate results, Busby pointed out that victory in upcoming matches is part of a larger vision—a journey toward a third-consecutive World Cup appearance in 2027 and the continued development of a sustainable, competitive program for Jamaica’s women’s football.
The Girlz will take on South Africa at the Montego Bay Sports Complex on November 29 and December 2, in what will be their first matches on home soil since November 2022. It will also be the first game in Jamaica for the core group of the 2023 World Cup squad since last September’s Olympic qualifying playoff against Canada.
“It’s special to have the girls back playing in front of our fans. This is an opportunity to connect with the home crowd again, but it’s also a critical step in our preparation for what’s ahead,” Busby shared as he unveiled his 23-member squad.
“We're looking to have a good performance, then that leads to, obviously, a good result to end the year, but really it is also about us continuing to evaluate and to make the proper assessment of the players who continue to kind of move forward into World Cup qualifiers. I mean, that's really the bigger picture. So short term, let's get two good performances this week...two good results and take that into the February window,” he added.
Khadija 'Bunny' Shaw has been in good form for Manchester City.
Busby’s approach reflects his determination to build on recent experiences, including lessons learned from challenging matches against top-tier opponents like Brazil and more recently, France.
Despite a compressed six-day camp prior to that encounter, in which they lost 0-3, he noted the progress made in refining their style of play, particularly in maintaining possession and executing defensive transitions.
“We didn’t get the result we wanted against France, but there were positives, especially in how we’re evolving our style of play—keeping possession and building from the back. But we need to cut down on individual mistakes and improve decision-making in critical moments. Football is a game of moments, and minimizing mistakes during crucial periods is a key focus for us,” he noted.
With the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil as the ultimate target, Busby has been focused on establishing a winning culture while integrating new talent into the team.
For the last camp, he invited Taylor Hinds, Lulu Jarvis, Reanna Blades, and Natasha Thomas in to see how they fit into the programme, but none of those players are listed for the upcoming camp, in which national youth representative Destiny Powell and Naya Cardoza will be the only new players among the core group.
The coach stressed that his job is not just to guide the team to their third consecutive World Cup but to lay the groundwork for Jamaica’s participation in every World Cup thereafter, hence the consistent inclusion of young talent.
“It’s not just about Brazil in 2027. It’s about creating a sustainable pipeline of talent so we’re always competitive because their growth today will fuel our success tomorrow. So it's really important to get these young players in,” Busby shared.
“My responsibility is to get this team to the 2027 World Cup, but with that said, you know, we want to ensure that we're going to every single World Cup afterwards. Integrating young, talented players into the group to see where they are keeps the group fresh and challenges the group to keep it competitive. The success that we've had in the past, the average age, I believe was about 26 years of age, so they'll probably be about 28 going forward,” he explained.
One of the most exciting elements of the upcoming friendlies is the return of Khadija “Bunny” Shaw, who has been in rich form for Manchester City.
Busby, while highlighting her influence, both as a leader and a prolific scorer, as key to the team’s offensive strategy, also emphasized that the team’s success needs to be rooted in defence as former captain Konya Plummer, left full-back/winger Siobhan Wilson, and defensive midfielder Peyton McNamara also make a return to the fold. Wilson recently recovered from an ACL injury.
Siobhan Wilson makes a long-awaited return after an ACL injury kept her out of action for nine months.
“One of our objectives is to keep a clean sheet. Being good defensively has been the basis of our foundation of success without a doubt, but the biggest inclusion in this group is leader ‘Bunny’ Shaw. She's been in great form, as we all know, so it gives us another option up front to go around with all the as to go along with the other attacking options we have. But having her back in the group helps tremendously,” the tactician declared.
Like the Reggae Girlz, South Africa are also fresh off their participation in the 2023 World Cup, and Busby expects the games to be another tough challenge for his side, much like it was in their last meeting in 2019 when they played out a 1-1 stalemate in Durban.
“Going into these two games against a great-quality opponent in South Africa still gives us a really good litmus test in terms of where we are and, more importantly, where we need to go. So that is the objective. We want to get the wins. We want to improve performance. And we're hoping that these next two games will see a much more improved performance than we have before, that's for sure,” Busby ended.
Squad: Rebecca spencer, Liya Brooks, Allyson Swaby, Konya Plummer, Naya Cardoza, Vyan Sampson, Chantelle Swaby, Deneisha Blackwood, Siobhan Wilson, Atlanta Primus, Destiny Powell, Peyton McNamara, Jade Bailey Drew Spence, Paige Bailey-Gayle, Olufolasade Adamolekun, Khadija Shaw, Kayla McKenna, Davia Richards, Jody Brown, Shania Hayles, Shaniel Buckley, Tiffany Cameron
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