Brian Pengelley General Manager of Jameco Equipment, a subsidiary of the Stewarts’s Automotive Group on Wednesday implored fellow corporate entities to throw their support behind the Jamaica Football Federation’s football progammes citing that national teams bring exposure from which the country benefits.

He was speaking at the JFF Headquarters where new and returning sponsors were announced as well as the revealing of the association’s new website.

Adidas, Courts Jamaica, Irie FM, First Choice Pharmacy, Wisynco, GraceKennedy Ltd, Sports Development Foundation, First Choice Pharmacy and Stewart’s Automotive were introduced as new or returning sponsors along with the Bob Marley Foundation, the Jamaica Pegasus and Holiday Inn.

“What’s missing is the full participation of Corporate Jamaica. This journey we are on with the JFF is a critical one for the overall growth of our country,” Pengelley said, speaking on behalf of the sponsors’ representatives in attendance.

“We talk about businesses coming back, business is strong, tourism is strong. I am not seeing where people appreciate what value the advertising, promotion and the teams being abroad is bringing to Jamaica.

“People that sell in Jamaica, companies that sell their manufactured goods should be on board because when people come here they are buying our products and that benefits everyone.

“My appeal to Corporate Jamaica is recognize that the publicity that our teams are generating around the world is bringing people to Jamaica. They put Jamaica on the map every time they do something.”

Meantime, JFF President Michael Ricketts said it took a lot of hard work to get sponsors back board to support several campaigns that the national teams are involved in. The Reggae Boyz are about to begin their campaign in the Concacaf Gold Cup in June while the Reggae Girlz will begin theirs at the FIFA Women’s World Cup later this year.

A number of the junior teams are also competing at the international level, most notably the U20 Girls who recently won their group to advance to the final round of the Concacaf U20 Championships qualifiers.

“In these times of austerity it is not easy to get sponsors on board but I think we have a product that is marketable,” he said. “We have a brand that people want to be a part of.”

To emphasize his point, he revealed that during a recent meeting with Adidas, they expressed their elation with what was happening with the Jamaica kit.

“Every single piece of kit in the United Kingdom was sold,” he said. “We met with (former Reggae Boy) Deon Burton, one of our celebrated from the ’98 campaign. He wanted a shirt and could not get one to buy. The product is marketable. Jamaica’s football is going places. The girls are doing very well; the boys will test their true mettle at the Gold Cup.”

The Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) has announced new policy guidelines surrounding sexual harassment, whistle blowers and safeguarding children and young people.

The new policies emerged from a meeting of the JFF board on Saturday January 21^st.

The policies, the JFF said, complement the Procurement Policy already approved in December 2022 and submitted to FIFA.

According to the JFF the Sexual Harassment policy aims to safeguard employees of both genders from unwanted sexual advances and provide them with guidelines to report incidents.

The new policy explains how they handle complaints and take action against offenders.

“The JFF aims to provide a safe working environment and prohibits any form of sexual harassment,” the football governing body said it a statement on Monday.

“Hence, any act of sexual harassment or related retaliation against an employee is unacceptable. This policy, therefore, intends to prohibit such occurrences and details the procedures to follow when an employee believes that a violation of the Policy has occurred. Making a false complaint of sexual harassment or providing false information regarding a complaint will also be treated as a violation of the policy,” the JFF said.

With regards to its Whistle Blower policy, the JFF said it will provide a mechanism for all directors, officers, employees and contractors of JFF to report and disclose, in good faith, all improper or illegal conduct which adversely affects this entity or is contrary to the public interest, without fear of punishment or reprisal.

This policy, it said, is also aimed at facilitating prompt and full investigations into reports which are made in good faith and stipulates the procedure which must be complied with when addressing any complaints which alleged acts or attempted acts of interference, intimidation or reprisal against directors, officers, employees and contractors who report, disclose or investigate such acts.

“Therefore, all directors, officers, employees and contractors of JFF are encouraged to adhere to the procedures and guidelines specified in this Policy for reporting all allegations of suspected improper or illegal acts,” the JFF said.

The policy governing the Safeguarding of Children and Young People aims to ensure compliance with the Children (Child care and Protection Act) (2004) that all children participating in activities and programmes organized by the JFF do so in as safe a manner as possible.

 In addition to the policies approved, the JFF has also taken steps to ensure that it conforms with internationally accepted standards, by commissioning background checks on all coaching and technical staff, and will further expand this as they seek to bring full transparency and comfort around the persons involved with the operations of the JFF.

“This is especially as we recognize that we are the guardians of children directly, through our national teams and camps, and also have to interact with children nationally,” the JFF said.

 In addition, the board also deliberated on the coaching qualifications in Jamaica, as it recognizes how critical coaching development is for a sustainable and improved football product.

Against that background, the board approved the following:

A subsidy of $150,000 for the next batch of 24 coaches that will be doing the CONCACAF B License, which will be selected as at least one from each parish and the national coaches.

For 2023, there will be two B License sessions of 24 each, and in order to encourage participation we will subsidize the first batch. The full cost is $300,000, which means that participants will only have to pay $150,000 and there are currently 27 B License coaches already.

A subsidy of $40,000 for the next batch of 24 coaches that will be doing the CONCACAF C License, which will be selected as at least one from each parish and the national coaches.

 For 2023, there will be four B License sessions of 24 each, and in order to encourage participation we will subsidize the first batch. The full cost is $80,000, which means that participants will only have to pay $40,000 and there are currently 57 C License coaches already

The JFF, through the Technical Committee, will do an assessment as to whether a subsidy is needed for JFF D License certification. There are currently 300 D License coaches already.

 “The JFF encourages coaches to take advantage of the available certifications, especially that as of next season the minimum coaching requirements will be as follows:

Premier League Men’s – every coach must either have a CONCACAF B License or is actively registered

Tier 2 Men’s and Premier League Women’s – every coach must have a CONCACAF C License or is actively registered

Major League – every coach must have a JFF D License or JFF Advanced Level 2 certification or is actively registered

Every person involved with the youth must do a safeguarding course, and is familiar with the Safeguarding Children and Young People policy.

 At the highest level of CONCACAF A License, the JFF currently has 10 coaches completing the course, with seven of the 10 almost certified.

“The JFF is committed to improve the governance and transparency around our operations, to ensure that our stakeholders are fully aware of decisions taken that will affect the JFF and football in general,” said JFF President Michael Ricketts.

“I have therefore asked that these decisions be communicated to the public to show the steps being taken to continue the development of football in Jamaica and chart an even more successful path for Jamaica’s international performance. The JFF recognizes that we are seen as one of the leaders in CONCACAF and will ensure that we do not disappoint.”

The Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), as a part of its outreach programme, has partnered with Jamballers and IRIE FM to bring Christmas cheer to selected past players and administrators as the Yuletide season rolls in.

 Through the efforts of JFF staff member Beverly Melbourne of Jamballers, gift baskets including gear and other items have been presented to former FIFA Referee Dwight Royal, who has been incapacitated after an accident in Santa Cruz a few years ago. The gifts to him were presented by Patrick Malcolm, President of the St Elizabeth Football Association.

 Presentations were also made to former league director of the JFF, Bob West, who is in a nursing home in Mandeville while former national player and Reno FC stalwart Boysie Nicholson, who has been ill for some years, was visited earlier this week.

 "The JFF recognizes the invaluable contribution that these persons have made to development of football in Jamaica, and we thought it necessary to participate in this small gesture to recognize them and bring some cheer in this yuletide season,” said JFF President Michael Ricketts.

 Ten people are to be presented with gifts with the final set to be done at Zipp FM’s offices in Half-Way-Tree on December 14.

 “It is a blessing to be able to move about and interact with these noble people,” Melbourne said.

 “They would have given their best for the country and for football and we want to put a smile on their faces and show them that they are not forgotten."

Jamaica Football Federation President Michael Ricketts is hopeful that the Reggae Girlz will make it out of the first round at next year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

“I personally want us to go beyond the first round,” said Ricketts when speaking to SportsMax.TV.

It will be a tough task for the girls who were drawn in Group F alongside powerhouses France and Brazil as well as either Chinese Taipei, Panama, Papua New Guinea or Paraguay. They kick-off their World Cup campaign against the French in Sydney on July 23.

Jamaica will host the Paraguayans for two friendlies in Montego Bay on Thursday and Kingston on Sunday. Ricketts says these games are designed to prepare the girls for the type of opposition they will have to overcome if they are to make noise in Australia and New Zealand.

“We play two games against Paraguay. One in Montego Bay and one in Kingston. It’s a part of our preparation process,” he said.

“We just want some good results. It’s not all about winning but the coaches certainly want to establish a philosophy and a style of play that would make them competitive when they go to the World Cup,” he added.

Ricketts also said that we can expect more friendlies to be scheduled for the girls in the new year.

“We will have discussions with the coaches when we get to Montego Bay just to get an idea of exactly who they would want to play or which teams they would want to engage and then we’ll be having discussions with teams coming up for the February FIFA window.”

The Catherine Hall Sports Complex will play host to the first Paraguay friendly at 8:00pm local time while the second game kicks off at 6:00pm on Sunday at the National Stadium.

President of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) Michael Ricketts was candid in offering his thoughts on the tenure of former JFF General Secretary Dalton Wint which came to an end on Monday. 

Wint tendered his resignation in the wake of an administrative nightmare which saw the Reggae Boyz being stranded in Suriname after their Concacaf Nations League encounter on Saturday.

The team was expected to return to Jamaica on Saturday night for the return fixture on Tuesday but were unable to after the JFF had failed to make proper arrangements. The players ended up arriving in Jamaica at 7:15am on Monday. 

“In a meeting in Suriname, all the players gathered and briefly called Mr. Wint and myself and said that the situation as it is now is that they have gotten a mandate from all the members that they will not work with Mr. Wint and they’re insisting that he tenders his resignation,” Ricketts outlined in an interview with Nationwide Radio on Tuesday before pinpointing why the players wanted Wint gone.

“They cited incompetence and, for whatever reason, there seems to be a very strained relationship,” he added.

Players had also informed Ricketts that they would not play in Tuesday's game if Wint wasn't removed from his post.

“I think Dalton, like all of us, did have his shortcomings and my only problem with him is that I don’t think he would’ve learned as quickly I would’ve liked,” Ricketts said when asked to sum up Wint's tenure as General Secretary.

“He was strident, loyal, and committed to what he was doing but, like I said, there could very well have been some shortcomings that he would have, not with the level of urgency that I would’ve liked, learned, and been able to correct,” Ricketts added.

While also explaining how unfortunate it is for players to be able to essentially dictate staff members' job status, Ricketts ultimately said Wint did what had to be done.

“In the interest of the sport, the own players, and this nation, Wint has decided to offer his resignation,” Ricketts said.

Jamaica Football Federation General Secretary Dalton Wint appears to have yielded to the demand of the Reggae Boyz that he resigns his position.

Wint has been the target of the players’ ire after being left stranded in Suriname on Saturday night, June 4, after their 1-1 draw with the host country. The JFF had failed to make proper arrangements for the players to return to Jamaica, an embarrassing situation that the players laid squarely at the feet of the beleaguered general secretary.

According to a statement reportedly coming from the players, “it was the straw that broke the camel’s back” and they refused to go on unless Wint resigned from his post. JFF President Michael Ricketts confirmed on Monday that the board had met to discuss the situation but up to later that day, there was no official word regarding the board’s position on the demand made by the players, who Sportsmax.TV understands refused to train in preparation for the return match against Suriname on Tuesday evening.

However, in a statement released late Monday night, the JFF signalled that an end to the impasse is in sight.

“The General Secretary of the Jamaica Football Federation, Mr Dalton Wint, has given his unequivocal and irreversible commitment to submit his resignation from the post,” the JFF said. “The Board of Directors of the JFF look forward to receiving same soonest. Other relevant information regarding this matter, will be shared with the country in the coming days.”

Meantime, Jamaica’s Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sports, revealed its part in getting the players home from Suriname early Monday morning.

Minister Olivia Grange revealed that her ministry intervened to facilitate the safe return of the irate players, who returned to Jamaica at approximately 7:15 am Monday.

“On Saturday, June 4, 2022, I was advised of challenges being experienced by the Reggae Boyz delegation in Suriname. I was made to understand that travel arrangements for their return to Jamaica, after the match against Suriname on Saturday, had been cancelled and my assistance was being sought,” the minister said in a statement.

 “I was told that because the players had to return in time for another match, normal flight schedules would not allow for their return. On my instructions, a number of steps were taken by my Permanent Secretary and the General Manager of the Sports Development Foundation (SDF) to assist in addressing the problem.

 “A company was identified from which we could charter a flight in the short time frame. Reggae Boy Leon Bailey was instrumental in identifying the charter company.

“We were advised by the company identified that the charter flight would cost US$105,000.00 which had to be paid immediately in order for the aircraft which was in Mexico to be released to pick up the team in Suriname. Unfortunately, with this taking place over the weekend, the circumstances prevented the SDF from accessing the required banking services.”

 As a result, Minister Grange said, JFF President Michael Ricketts contacted Christopher Williams, CEO of PROVEN and Chairman of the Premier Football Jamaica League (PFJL) to assist with the identification of the required funds and the Government of Jamaica through the SDF committed to ensuring that the funds advanced would be repaid.

“Based on the commitment of the Government, Mr Williams put the necessary mechanisms in place to advance the payment for the charter flight, with the firm understanding that he would be reimbursed in the shortest possible time,” the minister explained.

“All the parties involved were aware of the urgent need to act, bearing in mind the risk of the Jamaican delegation being stranded in Suriname, and the players not being able to honour the fixture scheduled for Tuesday, June 7, 2022,” the minister continued, adding that she spoke directly to the players, who she said were upset with the JFF Administration which they blamed for the crisis.

The players, she said, then agreed to play the game in Suriname on schedule.

“The Under Secretary for the Diaspora, Protocol and Consular Affairs Division in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade (MFAFT) played a critical role in securing the landing and fly over permits. The team from the Ministries were in negotiations from Saturday afternoon until early Monday morning to ensure that the permits were received,” the minister said.

  “I will be writing to the JFF requesting a detailed report on the matter and my team and I will continue to work closely with the JFF and the Reggae Boyz as we are also aware of other matters of concern related to the management of what is possibly the most popular sport in Jamaica.”

Reports are emerging that Reggae Boyz Head Coach Paul Hall has resigned his position and the players have refused to move forward unless Jamaica Football Federation General Secretary Dalton Wint tenders his resignation.

It is a position with which JFF President Michael Ricketts appears to agree. Sportsmax.TV has obtained a Whatsapp voice note created Saturday night in which a player speaking on behalf of the team, is heard demanding Wint’s resignation and President Ricketts seemingly agreeing with the players.

“On behalf of the team, captain, vice captain, we are asking Mr Wint to resign. That’s the only way we move forward. Can we get your word on that?” said an unidentified player.

A voice sounding like the JFF president responded, “I am saying I agree.”

“You agree as the president. Okay,” the player said in reply.

This latest fallout stems from a situation that developed in Suriname on Saturday night where the Reggae Boyz played to a 1-1 draw with the home side in their opening match of the CONCACAF Nations League.

After the match, the players came to the realization that they did not have a return flight to Jamaica for the return match on June 7. Unconfirmed reports indicate that Jamaica was to have shared a charter flight with the Suriname national team back to Jamaica on Saturday night. However, Jamaica is alleged to have failed to come up with their share of the cost of the flight.

The players are reportedly still in Suriname.

Calls to both JFF President Ricketts and General Secretary Wint went unanswered up to the time of publication on Sunday.

It is unknown what arrangements are being made for the players to get back to Jamaica to prepare for their match against Suriname and their upcoming match against Mexico on June 14.

President of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) Michael Ricketts is pleased with the ongoing increase in the number of qualified coaches in the country. He was speaking at an official ceremony at the JFF Headquarters this week where a number of coaches received their badges adding to the growing number of certified football coaches across the island.

“We certainly want to highlight the work of our coaches and the JFF is intent on ensuring that our coaches are always at a premium as it relates to exposure, and certainly, qualifications,” the JFF boss said while addressing the coaches and officials on Tuesday.

Ricketts, who took office in 2017 after the passing of Captain Horace Burrell, added that more and more coaches across the country are earning their C and B level coaching licenses.

“When we got into office, there was not a single B-licensed coach and Jamaica now has 27 and I understand that there’s no other Caribbean country that has more than five.”

According to Ricketts, initiatives are already in place to ensure that the numbers continue to grow.

“Jamaica has 27 B-licensed coaches. There were 1264 primary schools that were playing without certified coaches when I got into office and we’ve started the B-license coaching seminar. St. James, St. Catherine, KSAFA, Manchester and St. Elizabeth have already been covered in recent times and we certainly will be looking to do the other eight parishes,” Ricketts says.

Ricketts also emphasized the importance of coaches getting these qualifications as early as possible.

“We are intent on ensuring that our coaches are of the best quality," he said.

"We have nine coaching educators and these are tasked with the responsibilities of preparing our C-licensed coaches and they have, for the last two or three months, been going around ensuring that coaches at the lowest level are so prepared that they can prepare players from 12 years and under to get into high schools, get scholarships, get into premier league teams, play overseas and, of course, to ensure that the social impact on our little boys and little girls is at a premium.

“I believe it is important that the best coaches should be at the 12 and under level because they represent the future of our football.”

Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) president Michael Ricketts has expressed disappointment with the government’s decision not to allow fans to attend the upcoming World Cup qualifier against Mexico, and possibly Costa Rica.

The Reggae Boyz will return to action against El Tri on the 27^th of January, in a crucial World Cup qualifier at the National Stadium.  The team has played the majority of home matches so far with empty stands, impacted by the government’s Covid-19 management protocols.

The exception came against the United States in the last round, where up to 5,000 vaccinated fans were allowed to attend the fixture.  The JFF was hoping to have the same number of fans, if not more, but the recent increase of coronavirus cases, however, meant they had other ideas.

“Covid will be here if not forever, for a very long time so you just have to put things in place and figure out how best you are going to navigate this pandemic,” Ricketts said.

“We must live with Covid, so we must adhere to the protocols and be as careful as we can, but we must also understand that life goes on.”

The Reggae Boyz have been the only team in the octagonal round that has been affected so severely by coronavirus restrictions, with many other teams sticking to the practice of limiting the numbers of fans allowed at the venues.

Jamaica, however, has the lowest vaccination rate of all the countries participating in the qualifiers.

Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) president, Michael Ricketts, has been ordered to pay $9m in a default judgment handed down by the Supreme Court.

The ruling, issued on Wednesday, found Ricketts to have acted with malice when he made comments, which amounted to a homophobic slur, against Sporting Central CEO Ainsley Lowe on local radio in 2016.

The JFF president did not contest the charging when the case was brought against him in May 2017 and has now found out the price tag on the judgment.  Ricketts has been ordered to pay general damages in the amount of $8m and aggregated damages of $1m.  In addition, Ricketts will have to issue a public apology via the same radio station the offense was made and issue an apology, approved by the claimant's attorneys, in a Jamaica Gleaner publication before January 22.

Ricketts' derogatory comment came after Lowe challenged him for the post of Clarendon FA president in 2016. Lowe claimed the election was run unconstitutionally and should have been declared null and void.

President of the Jamaica Football Federation Michael Ricketts was on Saturday elected a Vice President of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) during a virtual Annual Congress of the regional body.

"I feel honoured that my regional colleagues have seen it fit to place their faith in my abilities to support the leadership of this important organisation. I will do everything within my power working with my colleagues to ensure that the mandate and expectations of this body are fulfilled," said Ricketts, who became the second Jamaican to occupy the post.

The late Captain Horace Burrell was also a vice president of the CFU.

Jamaica Reggae Girlz head coach, Hubert Busby, has been suspended indefinitely by the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) while it conducts an inquiry into previous allegations of sexual misconduct.

The 52-year-old, who has been head of the country’s national team since 2020, has faced resurfaced allegations that he attempted to force himself on a player in 2010, during his time as coach of the Vancouver Whitecaps women’s team.

Busby has denied the allegations in a previous report, but the Whitecaps did part ways with the coach sometime after the accusations surfaced.  The team, however, made no mention of allegations of sexual misconduct being the reason he was fired.

Major League Soccer announced that it would conduct investigations into how that situation was handled.  The JFF for its part has asked its parent body FIFA to conduct a full investigation into the incident, which will determine the next steps to be taken. 

“We will await the evidence of the FIFA investigation.  We do not want to make permanent decisions until we have the facts.  At the same time, we have to ensure that our women and girls are protected by those who lead them,” JFF president Michael Ricketts said via a press release.

Busby coached the team in two practice matches against Costa Rica and was expected to lead a camp later this month.

The Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) in association with CONCACAF, will be hosting a team from the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Assist League Development Programme for a capacity-building workshop with clubs in the Jamaica Premier League.

The workshop begins on Tuesday, October 5, 2021, at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel in Kingston, and ends on Friday, October 8, with a closing session and Press Conference at midday.

UEFA’s key aims are to share knowledge and best practices to help UEFA’s sister confederations and their member associations develop and strengthen football within their respective territories as well as to respond to the needs of national associations and confederations around the world while increasing solidarity and facilitating football development globally.

The intensive programme will cover a wide range of topics on best practices in the modern league across several topics aimed at further developing the Clubs of the Jamaica Premier League.

"The clubs represent the main cornerstone for the development of football in Jamaica. We have come a long way in club development over the years but there is still a mountain to climb if we are to get to our destination,” said JFF President Michael Ricketts.

“This workshop will help to bridge the knowledge gap and introduce our clubs to best practices and methods in today's game. The JFF welcomes the assistance of both CONCACAF and UEFA and I implore the participants to capture as much knowledge as is possible.”

The capacity-building sessions are only a part of an overall League Development Programme and follow similar sessions conducted online last year for the JFF and with the participation of the then recently-established Professional Football Jamaica Limited, PFJL.

This week, the sessions are being delivered directly and in person with international experts to the clubs of the Jamaica Premier League, including the clubs for the 12th spot.

“Building the capacity of the Jamaica Premier League clubs is a vital step in the UEFA Assist League Development Programme. Strengthening their knowledge in key areas like income generation, governance and financial management will prove invaluable to ensuring the clubs remain sustainable over the long-term,” said Eva Pasquier, UEFA Head of International Relations.

“We are delighted to support this important initiative and help grow Jamaican football.”

Meanwhile, Howard McIntosh, ONE Caribbean Project Senior Manager at CONCACAF believes that strengthening the clubs’ capacity augurs well for regional football.

"Clubs are the heartbeat of football. Developing the clubs in Jamaica and the region is part of our commitment to improving the game in Concacaf. This is even more critical with the professional game,” he said.

“We remain committed to supporting our member associations and the clubs in our region. This workshop is one small demonstration of our continued support. I would encourage all the Clubs to take full advantage of this opportunity to learn about best practices in the professional game."

Cedella Marley, CEO of the Bob Marley Group of companies) currently in her seventh year as Global Ambassador for the Jamaica Women’s Football Programme, is now expanding her advocacy and commitment to the women’s game.

Her new Football is Freedom Initiative will provide tools and resources for the development and growth of women’s football throughout the Caribbean and Latin America as well as diaspora communities in the United States.

“In the process of my role as ambassador, I have taken note of the crucial role that football can play in empowering young women; through opportunities for education and professional advancement - both on and off the pitch,” Marley said.

“Through the Football is Freedom Initiative we can expand our efforts to other countries in the region and eventually beyond.”

The core mission of FIF is to support the development of women’s football at the grass-roots level in the region by funding existing programs and academies in the islands and in diaspora communities in Canada and the United States, supporting the growth and development of national teams by staging an annual exhibition match and mini-tournament to provide a quality training experience and raise funds that will go directly into the women’s programs of the participating federations as well as invest in the holistic wellness of the players by funding scholarships and programs that assist players with skill sets and tools to help them succeed outside of football once that time comes.

The launch of Football Is Freedom centres around an international friendly fundraising match between the national women’s teams of Jamaica and Costa Rica. In addition to helping fund the new initiative, a portion of the proceeds will be donated to each national team.

Marley is particularly pleased that Costa Rica will join Jamaica on the pitch at DRV PNK Stadium.

“In 2014, I was honoured to attend the FIFA U-17 WWC finals in Costa Rica (as the guest of the late Capt. Horace Burrell). The Costa Rican federation's investment in women's football has helped to inspire my own ideas about the impact that the women’s game could have once given the proper support. Having two of our strongest female teams come together like this is a chance to demonstrate the potential depth and power of women’s football in this region,” she said.

The Reggae Girlz and Las Sele both arrive in South Florida on October 18 for a week of training and a two-game series. In adherence to FIFA- mandated COVID protocols, the delegations will be housed in protective isolation during the camp. The first match will be a closed-door scrimmage, and the finale will be a fundraising match open to the public. The camp is the result of a combined effort by the Bob Marley Foundation, Rita Marley Foundation, and Reggae Girlz Foundation.

The match is being presented by Cedella Marley in association with Black Tower Agency.

Costa Rican and Jamaican Federations expressed the importance of the upcoming camp and the initiative itself to women’s football in the region.

“For the Costa Rican Football Federation it is a true pleasure to be able to participate in the first edition of the "Football is freedom" Festival. From a sporting perspective, the fact that our female players can compete with a team of such high calibre as the Jamaican team is immensely important,” said Gustavo Araya, FEDEFUTBOL General Secretary.

“And of course, getting the chance to participate in the beginnings of what this foundation is going to do makes us proud. The first edition of this festival, set to be held in Florida, will be of utmost importance for our players as they look ahead to the upcoming World Cup qualifiers. We will also use this opportunity to show how a foundation like this can impact young girls and get them excited about sports.”

Meanwhile, JFF President Michael Ricketts commended Marley for the initiative that he said will prove to be invaluable.

“I would like to wholeheartedly commend and congratulate our Reggae Girlz Ambassador Cedella Marley and her team. “Football is Freedom” can only help to broaden the interest and quicken the expansion of women’s football in Jamaica and the wider region,” he said.

“We are particularly proud that the initiative is being launched around a camp and an international Friendly game involving the Reggae Girlz. This will serve as invaluable preparation for their World Cup Qualifiers which begin in November. The Jamaica Football Federation stands ready to offer whatever assistance necessary to ensure the success of this venture and we look forward to participating vibrantly going forward.

“On behalf of every aspiring female footballer throughout Jamaica, I wish this progressive vision every

success.”

In addition to the main event, Sunday’s festivities will include a pre-game kickoff party and fan zone experience with games, entertainment, and food trucks as well as a community marketplace showcasing small businesses and organizations from the South Florida diaspora communities.

There is also a musical halftime performance.

The event will also be sponsored by Visit Fort Lauderdale, KICS International, Bob Marley Foundation, and Riddims Marketing.

Tickets will be available through Ticketmaster beginning October 6th. For information about group ticket purchases please contact the production office directly via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

For vendor/food truck information please contact Riddims Marketing (954) 251-1643.

Further details about the event and the initiative are available in the Football Is Freedom app which

can be downloaded in the Google Play and I Tunes stores October 6th

.

Paul Hall has been appointed assistant coach to Reggae Boyz Head Coach Theodore Whitmore for the Gold Cup and the duration of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.