‘It comes down to funds’

President of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), Michael Ricketts, is bemoaning his administration’s travelling record, during the five years he has held the reins of the island’s governing body for football.

Ricketts, who took over after the death of Captain Horace Burrell, credits the island’s back-to-back qualification to the Women’s World Cup as his biggest success, while also piggybacking on several projects started under the leadership of the late administrator.

According to Ricketts, however, the lack of funds significantly impacted the travel arrangements of the island’s national teams, while he also hinted in an interview with The Sunday Gleaner, that COVID-19 also affected his administration’s progress over the period.

He wants to improve that aspect of his leadership, especially with the Reggae Girlz on their way to the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand next summer and in his bid to qualify the Reggae Boyz for the World Cup in 2026, which will take place in the United States of America, Mexico and Canada.

“Our challenges were basically because of funds or the lack of it, and during that COVID period that would have prevented a number of issues. Air travel would be our biggest failure and again, it comes down to funds or the lack of it,” Ricketts said.

He also cites a poor relationship with the players as one of his administration’s biggest downfalls. He says that initiatives are under way to mend the fences, as the JFF set out to change the image under new general secretary Dennis Chung.

Meanwhile, Ricketts chided detractors, who credit the women’s qualification to back-to-back World Cups to the Marley Foundation and Cedella, the daughter of Reggae icon Bob Marley. Cedella revived the fortunes of the Reggae Girlz, who were placed in the scrapyard during the latter years of Burrell’s tenure.

“Cedella operates like a sponsor would. We have established a great relationship with the Marley Foundation, so too the Reggae Girlz Foundation. These three entities would have worked closely together and would have had discussions after discussions, crafting a way forward for the women’s programme. The JFF is the regulatory body for football, I mean nobody can take that from us.

“So whatever happens, we must get some credit and we make critical decisions. We get support from the Marley Foundation, no question about that. We get support from the Reggae Girlz Foundation, but it’s the JFF that is the regulatory body that makes the decisions,” Ricketts said.

According to Ricketts, his successes also included several intangibles, some of which were implemented by Burrell and continued under his administration.

Ironically, Ricketts, believes that the operations of the secretariat is one of his successes, despite several foul-ups with travel arrangements under the previous general secretary, Dalton Wint.

He added, however: “We certainly would have missed some opportunities, but by and large I think we have done pretty well.”

Among the other areas that Ricketts believes he has had success in are courses for local coaches to upgrade, a good relationship with the Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA) and several referees working at the international level.

He said the work would continue with the administration putting things in place for the upkeep and improvement of facilities across the island, including the offices in New Kingston and the Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence, both of which were the brainchild of the former president.

“We are working very hard with FIFA, to ensure that structures, venues get some financial support so that we can have good surfaces, good infrastructure so we can develop young players,” Ricketts said.

He completed two years of Burrell’s mandate when the latter died in 2017, before being duly elected unopposed in 2019.