‘JFF 2.0’ not missing millions
Published:Thursday | September 7, 2023 | 12:10 AMLivingston Scott/Gleaner Writer
JAMAICA FOOTBALL Federation (JFF) general secretary Dennis Chung sought to clear the air on the revelation that $30 million had been missing from its coffers.
Speaking at a press conference at the JFF yesterday, Chung explained that the $30 million in mention was not classified and that the organisation’s auditor would not pass the audit because of it.
However, he said the JFF has successfully classified the money and got the audit issued.
“There’s accusation that money is missing. There is no money missing. It is just how the thing was accounted for and then was classified. We have classified it successfully, and the audit was completed and sent to the finance committee,” he said.
Chung said the press conference was called to highlight the improved efficiency and reliability of the federation based on policies and plans they have implemented over the last year.
He disclosed that they have settled outstanding taxes, established a purchase-order system, a travel policy, and have all but completed their annual audit much earlier than usual.
Also, he said the addition of Suzie George Gayle as human resources (HR) manager and Grace Grant as chief accountant has greatly improved their administrative and financial-management capabilities.
According to Chung, a $107-million bill from Tax Administration of Jamaica (TAJ) for penalties and interests came from as far back as 2017.
He noted that the JFF has paid off more than $105 million in statutory liabilities and is now in negotiations with the tax bosses to write off the penalties and interests after paying off the outstanding principal.
“The discussion at the time was to pay off our principal outstanding and show that we are keeping up to date with all payments, which we did, and by March, we were able to ask for a write-off of the penalties and interest.”
He noted that the JFF did not usually complete its annual audit in November but said that this year, it was a month early and could be even earlier next year.
AUDIT WILL BE FINISHED SOON
“The finance committee had some minor changes, and it was sent back to the auditors, and by this week, we got it back. Our audit will be finished by next week or so when the board approves it.”
Chung also explained that the JFF had approved a travel policy and that general manager Roy Simpson had created a checklist for international games.
“Four weeks before a game, we need to get the (players) names from the coaches; three and a half weeks before, we must apply for the visas; two weeks before, we must get all the medical supplies.
“If we follow that, we still might have one or two issues, but it should put us in a better position to address issues arising,” he said.
They are also attempting to upgrade a filing system that has been neglected for nearly a decade.
“We are ensuring that the financial governance of the organisation is kept in check. So there are three levels of audit. First, we have to have documentation of everything that we spend. The funds we receive from FIFA and Concacaf are 80 per cent of our money.
“Secondly, FIFA does a central audit on everything that we do, and then we have our external audit. So there are X amount of audits that are done on the organisation.
“We really haven’t had a lot of negative publicity lately. I am not saying that things are not going to happen, but certainly, we have been putting things in place that are working.”