‘Wait until next season’

JAMAICA FOOTBALL Federation (JFF) competitions committee chairman, Gregory Daley, said there is no possibility of a special transfer window to accommodate tier-two teams participating in the new competition, slated to start on May 28.

Wadada coach Daniel Ricketts argued that the uncertainty which surrounded the start of the competition forced teams to delay preparation or transfers they were contemplating.

He pointed out that they have lost players to Premier League clubs, which has weakened their squad and surmised that other clubs faced similar circumstances and have called on the federation to assist them with a special window.

“We want to be competitive but we lost players to Montego Bay United and other clubs and we have been told that there will be no transfers,” Ricketts told The Gleaner.

“We are now in a situation where we are going to have to try and solve that or hope the federation shows some leniency.

“It has been three years we haven’t played and we did not know when we were going to play, so it made no sense to transfer players when you did not know what was happening.

“But if they can open a special window for the 13 clubs in the competition, it would help a great deal because I am sure everybody else is in the same predicament,” he stated.

However, Daley, also the St James FA president, noted that the local transfer window had been adjusted twice because of changes to the football schedule.

He also contends that with no relegation for the first season, clubs will get an opportunity to get a taste of what the new league is like and make the adjustments next season.

TRANSFER WINDOW

“Unfortunately, tier two starts after the second one (window) was closed. But there were clubs that used the transfer window, outside the Premier League and I do not think any of these clubs are privy to any information the other clubs aren’t.

“We can’t just open a transfer window for tier-two clubs, we cannot do it. We tried to push the transfer window as far as we could. The next transfer window is in July and that will be for the upcoming season but there is nothing we can do about it now.

“All the clubs will be in the same situation. The plus is that none of the teams will be relegated this season,” he said

No relegation for the first season, Daley explained, gives the clubs, who are not as organised or as financially stable as Premier League clubs, some level of security.

“We are starting up and we want people to invest in this league. It will be difficult to invest in this league and after a season they are out.

“If you do not have any form of security, you will not invest in anything. We want some amount of protection for these teams who really want to invest in this competition,” said Daley.

livingston.scott@gleanerjm.com