JFF voting statutes under review - President Michael Ricketts

By Sports Desk January 18, 2021

Voting statutes under review at JFF

The issue regarding the number of delegates who vote at the Congress of the Jamaica Football Federation is under review for change, according to President the Jamaica Football Federation Michael Ricketts.

Ricketts was speaking at the Annual General Meeting held in St Mary last Saturday. “We have begun work on the revision of the statutes under the guidance of FIFA,” Ricketts said.

Discussions surrounding the issue began with a FIFA representative who visited the island in 2020.

Since then, FIFA has sent some proposals that are being examined by a task force that was established by the Board (JFF) and which has provided responses to FIFA. “This is a process that you as a delegate and the broader football fraternity will be actively involved in as decision-makers,” Ricketts said.

“I want to re-assure and commit that in the coming period through all means available to us, face to face, through town-hall meetings or virtually, stakeholders will be part of the process of discussion before the final decision at congress.”

There are a number of best practices that will be part of the process of the review.

Ricketts said a review of the definition of memberships with the aim of widening and deepening the current membership structure is taking place.  “The representation here at our annual general meeting as well as voting rights at Congress could change based on best practices,” Ricketts stated.

The change, to reduce the delegates from over 130 to the existing 13 was made under former president the late Captain Horace Burrell.

Mr. Ricketts also said that the ongoing review and consultation involves term limits.

 

 

Related items

  • JFF moves to debunk 'inaccurate and contradictory' claims made by suspended winger Leon Bailey JFF moves to debunk 'inaccurate and contradictory' claims made by suspended winger Leon Bailey

    Amidst the fallout from Jamaica's defeat to the United States in the CONCACAF Nations League semi-final, the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) found itself thrust into the spotlight, not for the on-field performance, but rather for the controversy sparked by one of its own players, Leon Bailey.

    Bailey, the talented Aston Villa winger, had recently taken to the "Let's Be Honest" podcast to air his grievances against the JFF, leveling accusations of unprofessionalism and neglect against the governing body. His claims ranged from issues with flight arrangements to delays in payment, painting a picture of dissatisfaction that led to his hiatus from national team duties.

    Bailey was suspended and not invited to be part of the team for the Nations League semi-final after he broke curfew during a previous team camp and as a consequence was not considered for selection by Coach Heimer Hallgrimsson. The player has since said he will make himself unavailable for national duties for the foreseeable future.

    In response to Bailey’s disparaging statements, the JFF has wasted no time in responding to the player’s allegations. In a detailed statement released on Friday morning, the federation sought to debunk the assertions made by the disaffected Reggae Boyz winger.

    The statement led with the acknowledgment of Bailey's comments on the podcast, swiftly moving to address the inaccuracies and misconceptions contained therein. Notably, the JFF emphasized that while Bailey's criticism of the coaching staff would be addressed separately, the focus would be on clarifying the factual inaccuracies regarding the federation's operations.

    One of the primary points of contention was Bailey's claim that he had to personally book his airline tickets and often endured subpar travel conditions, such as economy class with multiple stops. The JFF countered this assertion by presenting evidence of recent flight bookings for Bailey, all of which showed premium economy or business class accommodations with standard one-stop routes, effectively refuting Bailey's narrative.

    “Firstly, the charges made that Leon has to book his own airline tickets, is always contending with multiple stops, and is always booked in economy are inaccurate and contradictory,” the JFF said in its statement.

    “Contradictory because if he says he books his own ticket but then says that he is always booked in economy, with multiple stops, and always receives the tickets late, then it would suggest that he is the reason why he has those issues, as he is the one, he asserts, who books the tickets. The fact though is that these statements are untrue.

    “In order to verify these statements, we researched the last three bookings for Leon, and the following were the results:

    A ticket booked for a travel date of 4 September 2023, shows a booking on AA 6958 leaving London Heathrow at 10:25AM, with a stop in Miami and then a flight on AA 0850, departing at 5:57PM to Jamaica. This is a typical one stop for flights out of the UK to Jamaica, and the seat type for both flights were Business.

    “A ticket booked for travel date 13 November 2023, shows a booking on VS 0103 leaving London Heathrow at 10:50AM, with a stop in Atlanta and then a flight on VS 3832, departing at 6:10PM to Jamaica. This is a typical one stop flight out of the UK to Jamaica, and the seat types were Business and Economy, respectively.

    “A ticket booked for travel date 19 November 2023, shows a booking on AC 0983 leaving Montego Bay at 1:45PM, with a stop in Toronto and then a flight on AC 0854, departing at 6:20PM to London Heathrow. This is a typical one stop flight out of Jamaica to the UK, and the seat types were Business for both.

    The JFF continued: “We could, of course, show additional similar tickets booked for Leon (which he travelled on) and so we are at a loss about the statements that he books his own tickets, that they were sent to him late (when all itineraries are sent days before to the players for confirmation), and that the bookings were primarily economy.

    “The JFF does have a policy that all players are booked on premium economy, which is similar to what is done in other sporting organizations, as the cost of booking all players on Business would make the programme unaffordable. This is communicated to all players, and they advise in many cases (including Leon) that we should use any monies owed to them to purchase Business class tickets on occasions, when they advise. The option is available to all players to upgrade their tickets themselves or by setting off against funds owed to them.”

    Furthermore, the JFF refuted Bailey's allegations of non-payment, stating that while outstanding funds from 2022 were being addressed, players received consistent per diem payments and had their camp and game expenses covered by the federation.

    “The charge made that he has received no monies from the JFF, is untrue. The JFF has stated that funds are outstanding to the Boyz, from as far back as 2022, and we have made inroads in paying it down, and has advised that we will pay them off in second quarter 2024.

    “We can confidently say though that we have been paying per diem consistently, and we also cover all costs relating to the camps or games. So, saying that no funds have been received from JFF is misleading, and unfortunate. We would like to add that the JFF, like many national federations, is not able to match what is paid by the professional clubs.

    “We would think though that the honour of playing for your country is something that all patriotic Jamaicans would want to do, as we realize that we will never be able to match the financial rewards of the professional clubs. We never realized that playing for Jamaica was primarily about financial rewards, and that this would be a main consideration”.

    In addition to addressing Bailey's specific grievances, the JFF clarified the division of responsibilities between the federation's secretariat and the coaching staff, reiterating that team selections were solely within the coach's purview. This distinction aimed to underscore the federation's commitment to fairness and equality among players while respecting the autonomy of the coaching staff.

    “The JFF secretariat would also like to say that the decision about team dynamics, and who is selected or not, remains the sole decision of the coach and his staff. The secretariat merely receives the requirements from the team technical staff, and determines if we have the funding support or not.

    “So, the implication that it is the JFF secretariat that determines who is selected to the team is false. The accountability of the coach to the JFF secretariat is whether he is a success or not, and our job is merely to hire or terminate the coach but not interfere in the coaching decisions.

    “One thing we will not encourage is for any player to be treated differently from any other. However, what happens within the team is a matter for the coaching staff.

     “The JFF wants to say again that it is unfortunate that we have to be addressing these public comments, as we believe that the professional thing to do is for differences to be addressed with each other and not through social, or other media.”

     Despite the disappointment expressed by the JFF at having to address such public comments, the federation remained steadfast in its dedication to professionalism and integrity within Jamaican football. Moving forward, the JFF hoped that internal dialogue and resolution would prevail over public discord, reaffirming its unwavering support for the national team and the sport as a whole.

     

  • Bailey announces break from international football: "Jamaica’s national team is not doing anything for me..." Bailey announces break from international football: "Jamaica’s national team is not doing anything for me..."

    Aston Villa and Reggae Boyz attacker Leon Bailey has confirmed that he’s taking a break from international football after being suspended by the Reggae Boyz for their upcoming Concacaf Nations League semi-final against the USA in Dallas.

    Bailey’s suspension came due to him reportedly breaking curfew and not staying at the team hotel during the Reggae Boyz last camp in November.

    As a result of this as well as a number of other factors he brought up during the latest episode of the Let’s Be Honest Podcast hosted by social media star Jaiifrais on Wednesday, Bailey has decided to take a break from representing the Reggae Boyz, essentially saying it’s not worth it.

    “Jamaica’s national team is not doing anything for me. Jamaica’s national team is not going to give me exposure. Playing for Jamaica is not going to make Real Madrid call me. I am shining light on the national team by playing overseas and representing as a Jamaican all the time. People know Leon Bailey everywhere in the world,” he added before going further.

    “It’s two things I’ve always asked them for and every time, I can’t get it. You have people booking flights for me and sending me from England to Jamaica with three different stops. All I ask for is a proper flight and a room by myself and I can’t get that. If I don’t go the national team I can go on my vacation and I can live good,” he said.

    “I am Jamaican and I love my country and hopefully one day my kids can come up and grow up in a better environment than I did but sometimes I think about it and realize that these things were happening before I was born so, can I be the change? There’s only so much a person can endure because I can’t be putting my best foot forward every time and all I get is disrespect and people not showing up for me at all,” he added.

     

    Bailey then quickly clarified his two main motivations for playing for the national team.

    “I’ve dealt with it all these years because I want to stay grounded but really and truly I don’t have to deal with it. I’m not here for money or exposure. I’m here to help the team get to the next World Cup and try to change the environment for kids growing up,” he said.

    Specifically, regarding the suspension, the Aston Villa star says he wasn’t surprised and that he was considering a break from the National Team even before the suspension was handed out.

    “I did break curfew but that’s normal. Every player does that. After your last game for your country, you’re going to travel the next day. Nobody is staying at a hotel. It’s just the way how it was presented that I didn’t like. He did say to me that he wasn’t going to invite me to the next camp but, way before this happened, I always had it in my head that this is too much on my plate when it comes to the National Team and I was really going to take a break from it and then that just tipped off everything,” he said.

    “When he mentioned that to me now I said to myself that I really couldn’t understand because the coach comes to me about everything. Me and him have video calls about any little thing at all. So, for him to look on me and tell me he’s not inviting me to the next camp, I felt that was really harsh and it just said to me that me being in the National Team right now, it really drains my energy a lot,” Bailey added.

    Bailey said the relationship between himself and Hallgrimsson is still good but he hoped things would have been handled differently.

    “Me and him have a good relationship. We’ve always had a good relationship. I can see where he’s coming from in terms of the style he wants to implement in the National Team but I feel like there has to be more understanding,” he said

    The 26-year-old then, once again, turned his attention to the running of the team itself by the higher-ups, blasting the lack of professionalism surrounding it relating to things such as travel and equipment.

    “A lot of people don’t know that most of the time, I book my own flights to come and represent Jamaica because they are very unprofessional. You’re getting your flight details 11pm to travel the next day. Jamaica National Team doesn’t pay us. I can’t remember the last time I received a dollar from the National Team. It’s very unprofessional in ways you can’t even imagine,” he said.

    He went on to give more examples.

    “You’re turning up and they don’t have equipment for you. You’ll go and they’ll only have a one shirt for you and you have to find shorts. Players turn up to games and it’s a women’s shirt they print out for them to wear. It’s ridiculous and they don’t know how to operate. When we go places I feel exposed,” he said.

    “No, never,” was Bailey’s response to the question of whether or not he’s ever voiced these concerns to the JFF.

    “I try to mesh with everybody and I never want to give any of my teammates the feeling that I’m more than them. I am not that person and If I want the team to do well, I can’t make anybody feel like I’m better than them,” he said.

     As for the length of his break, Bailey refrained from giving a specific time.

     

     

     

     

  • Sports Minister Grange congratulates JFF President Ricketts on his re-election Sports Minister Grange congratulates JFF President Ricketts on his re-election

    The Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honorable Olivia Grange, has congratulated Michael Ricketts on his re-election as Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) President.

    Ricketts has been returned to the presidency of the Jamaica Football Federation following elections held in Negril, Hanover on Sunday.

    He defeated challenger Raymond Anderson 39-17 in the vote count that was completed at the Royalton Resort in Negril, shortly before 5 pm Sunday.

    Ricketts, who has been president since 2017, will now serve a second full term at the helm, after riding out the buffeting winds of controversy most of which centered around the fallout between Jamaica’s senior Reggae Girlz and the administration over alleged unpaid fees and general disrespect.

    Minister Grange said, “I anticipate an early meeting with the new administration to hear of the plans for the Federation going forward.”

    “I believe differences should be put aside and that the focus should be on what is best in the interest of the further progress of Jamaica’s football, in both the men and women’s game. The mantra should be renewal, recommitment and repair. Let us all work together, there is much more still to be done.”

© 2023 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.