Renowned athletics coach Stephen Francis has publicly criticized the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) for what he described as gross incompetence, which has placed the country on the cusp of failing to qualify for the men’s 4x400m relay at this summer’s Paris Olympic Games.

Francis, known for his no-nonsense approach, did not mince words as he laid bare his frustrations with the governing body’s handling of the situation, as the country’s recent bid to make it into the top 16 in the world, again ended in disappointment.

The team of Reheem Hayles, JeVaughn Powell, Kimar Farquharson and Tarees Rhoden, gallantly clocked 2:59.75 against a Barbados team, and an international quartet at the NACAC New Life Invitational in Bahamas on Sunday, but failed to run faster than the 2:59.12 seconds set by Zambia in March.

That was Jamaica’s third attempt at qualification, following two failures at the World Athletics Relays, also held in the Bahamas, in May. Fourteen teams qualified from the World Relays with the next best two teams, based on times run during the qualifying window, being added.

France (2:58.46) and Zambia, currently occupy those slots, with Jamaica now in a race against time to surpass one of the two before the close of the qualification window on June 30.

Should the Jamaicans fail to do so, it would be the first time in decades that the country would be absent from the men’s 4x400m at any major championship.

Francis believes all this could have been avoided had JAAA’s president Garth Gayle appointed competent individuals with immense knowledge of how to manage the situation accordingly.

“Garth Gayle is a trying man, but he consistently gets letdown by the appointments he makes. Jamaica historically has treated senior athletics as an adjunct to junior athletics, so the same people are there, school principals and their technical committees, making these decisions on issues they know absolutely nothing about,” Francis told SportsMax.TV in an exclusive interview.

“They know nothing about senior athletics. They might have some kind of resume in (managing) juniors, being a high school principal or a coach at a high school, so (the country suffers) as a result of these personnel, because they keep making stupid decisions when it comes to seniors,” he added.

To drive home his point, Francis, a highly decorated coach, explained that the country’s teams to the World Athletics Relays were chosen based on early season times.

“That is rubbish…unheard of, and only people who know nothing about senior athletics would ever even suggest that. (Those with proper knowledge) know that in April, nobody starts to run because people are more peaking for the summer, so what they should have done for the World relays is to run the teams you expect to run down in June. You make them aware early enough that, ‘we're going to select so try and get in shape because we need to qualify, we need to get to the final,” Francis reasoned.

Francis called for the removal of Keith Wellington (left) and David Riley from the senior athletics committee.

“But instead, what they do, they start to name the teams based on who has run 46 seconds, or 45 seconds and stuff like that, and then again, they compounded the situation by inviting college kids to run in Bahamas,” he argued.

Despite his harsh critique, Francis offered constructive suggestions on how Jamaica could still qualify for the event before the June 30 deadline. He proposed that since the country’s best athletes will be assembled at the National Senior Championships, schedule for June 27-30, at the National Stadium, an urgent and focused approach could have been taken to try and meet the qualification deadline.

“What they should have done, if I had been there and they asked me, I would tell them to pay Trinidad and Tobago, Antigua and Barbuda, and St Lucia to find four people to come to the (Jamaica National) trials and have a 4x400m relay on the last day. What you must do is shift the 400m so the final is on Saturday,” Francis shared.

“But what these jokers have done is that they have pushed the 400m finals down to Sunday, so there's no opportunity for them to have a proper 4x400m relay here with the people who have qualified based on the trials,” he noted in annoyance.

“They need to get rid of Mr [David] Riley, Mr [Keith] Wellington, all the people of the committee for seniors and get people on there, whose lives are about senior athletics, and who know the sport and then we will stop having these problems,” the respected coach declared.

Still, Francis insists that it is not too late for the JAAA to correct their blunder, provided they make further changes to the schedule for the National Championships.

“All they have to do is tell the athletes that they are starting the 400m from Thursday, make the 400m Thursday, Friday and Saturday and then when they understand who is going to run, then they ask the athletes to run the 4x400m relay. They have selected for the most stupid reasons to shift the 400m hurdles instead.

“Sydney McLaughlin is not going to run 400m hurdles at the US (National) trials, but she will run the 4x400m relay. Why is it that we in Jamaica feel that we must shift the schedule so that the 400m hurdlers can run the 400m so that they can become eligible for the 4x400m,” Francis questioned.

He continued: “That's what the coaches are there for. The coaches must know, okay, Roshawn Clarke is a 45 second man, he is a 4x400m kind of athlete, if he runs 47 or 46 in the 400m hurdle, then he's in the 4x400m. But what these people do is to shift the women's 400m.

“The women’s 400m is now starting Friday, just to accommodate the 400m hurdlers. That's stupid, but that is what happens when you have people like Riley, Wellington and those people making these decisions. Get them off, let them stay with the juniors and ask Mr [Glen] Mills for people who can go and make decisions for the seniors.”

With the clock ticking towards the June 30 deadline, it is now left to be seen if Francis’ suggestions will be heeded by the country’s athletics governing body to possibly secure Jamaica a place in the men’s 4x400m relay at the global multi-sport spectacle.