No monopoly - CFA president ­refutes claims of match ­commissioner appointment ­hoarding

Clarendon Football Association president Ewan Scott has dismissed accusations by former match commissioner Anthony Cooke that parish Football Association (FA) presidents are monopolising appointments for Red Stripe Premier League (RSPL) games for monetary gains.

Match commissioners were appointed late for last week Sunday’s round of matches, and although the games went ahead without any problems, rumours that a strike was in effect had circulated. However, when contacted for ­clarification on the ­matter, calls to contact the competition’s committee chairman, Gregory Daley and his superior, Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) vice-­president, Raymond Anderson, went unanswered.

Scott says the allegations are not factual and that he refuses to believe fellow parish presidents would carry out such an act.

“I don’t make appointments, but normally, appointments are done on merit,” Scott told The Gleaner. “I don’t think anyone is being biased towards parish presidents from what I have seen. I don’t see parish presidents having any influence on appointments. That is not a fact,” he stated.

Cooke, who last served as a match commissioner last year, says that there has always been favouritism in how match officials are appointed.

“I know the [recent] ‘non-appointment’ of commissioners is that they (FA president match commissioners) are sticking up [the Premier League Clubs Association] for money,” Cooke said. “They said if they don’t get paid, they won’t appoint anyone. But I did it for 26 years, not for the money, but for the love of the game as someone who played, and this is my way of giving back.”

“Anderson is the one fully in charge [of commissioners], but the one who makes the appointments is [Gregory] Daley. But [Raymond] Anderson can still recommend and get his wish for a commissioner for a certain game. Daley is new. He will seek advice on certain games. Like a derby game between Arnett and Tivoli at Tivoli, you can’t send just any commissioner. You have to send a seasoned person.

“But I don’t want to be associated with that type of development, hence I stepped away, and it is sad that they are making others like me lose interest,” he added.

DECLINING STANDARD

Cooke said that the standard of local football administrating has declined in recent years and that changes are needed to raise the standards of football.

“When FIFA said the [JFF] board was too large, they didn’t mean it had to be downsized to just parish presidents, and that is where we went wrong. So unless this president (Michael Ricketts) is bold enough to change the constitution to include other stakeholders, it will never change. I have nothing against them, but I am not working with persons who don’t love football and don’t mean the football any good.”

Scott says he has never seen his colleagues practising nepotism.

“To think that parish presidents are sinking to the level where they are incompetent or unqualified to do these games, and they are pressuring to do these games, I don’t think the parish presidents have sunk that low,” he said. “That would be unfair. I would never call and say I will not do a game because of pay. That is not my modus ­operandi (way of operating). I would hope my ­parish presidents are in line with how I view things and not stoop to the level and look at this as a ­moneymaking thing and swarm it.”

Checks by The Gleaner revealed that only about five parish ­presidents were appointed to RSPL games over the last two months.

livingston.scott@gleanerjm.com

Parish presidents serving as match commissioners:

Ewan Scott – Clarendon

Elaine Walker Brown – St Catherine

Patrick Malcolm – St Elizabeth

James Pearson – St Mary

Marline Brown – Trelawny