Get registered on FIFA Connect – Chung
Published:Saturday | December 24, 2022 | 1:21 AMLivingston Scott/Gleaner Writer
General secretary of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), Dennis Chung, has called on local clubs to get registered on the FIFA Connect system by the end of the first quarter of next year if they want to reap the many benefits the federation has in store for them.
The FIFA Connect system helps member associations register stakeholders in a systematic way and keep track of players, coaches and referees, wherever they are in the world.
Each individual with a role in a football organisation is provided with a unique FIFA ID code, like a digital football passport number which has all the information history of each stakeholder.
“We are encouraging people to do that (get on system). We are going to ensure that some of the major benefits that comes through the JFF actually go to clubs that are registered. We are going to control it on the FIFA Connect, so next year the first quarter is going to be big in ensuring that people are registered.
“Once on it we have a greater leeway to ensure that the players and clubs get benefits. We are going to run the distribution through parishes on the FIFA Connect,” he said.
Registering on the FIFA Connect will also provide the clubs with a platform to export new talent, he added.
“We require parishes and clubs to register their players on the system. Once they are registered they have a global footprint and it can be duplicated.
“I think it is important for people to do that because if someone affiliated to FIFA is looking at talent, the first place they are going to go is FIFA Connect.
“It will take a little while but you will start to see an impact next year, in terms of recognising the talent that is there and having pathways to move the talent through the system,” he continued.
Cavalier sporting director Rudolph Speid said the system is one of the best things FIFA has instituted since its inception as it protects small nations and clubs from exploitation.
Speid acknowledged that there are many benefits to be gained from registering on the system.
“FIFA came with two things, namely the solidarity and training compensation mechanism which state that clubs that groomed players before they sign their first professional contract should be eligible for compensation as the clubs would have educated them.
“So this guards against the big clubs peeling off the cream of the crop and not paying anything for them,” he noted.
The system also contains the bank accounts of the various organisations and provides an outlet for complaints or claims from stakeholders.
“If you have a dispute, this is a system you can enter it into and FIFA actually answers you. They will send a letter to you and to the persons you are having the dispute with. So there are only positives.
“Sometimes young players leave and play in a league that is so low-keyed and you will not hear about them but with this system that cannot happen anymore,” Speid said.
Though many local clubs have struggled to use the system in the past, Speid contends that it gets easier with time.
However, he believes more and more clubs and parishes are making an effort to adopt the new system.
“You cannot compete in a JFF competition without being on the system. Some parishes are a 100 per cent compliant. This gives me the feeling that clubs want to get on it.
“This will help cut out errors. It is a foolproof registration of players, coaches and managers. This is the electronic age and this is the way we have to go. This is progress,” he added.