Poor turnout hurts Jamaica Football Federation (JFF)

Kwesi Mugisa, Staff Reporter

For a third consecutive home game, it appears that local football's governing body, the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), will be left holding an unbalanced chequebook, as a poor crowd turnout at the National Stadium for Sunday's friendly international against Trinidad and Tobago is certain to see the cash-strapped body sustain another loss.

Despite securing a 1-0 win over Trinidad and Tobago's Soca Warriors, with a 19th-minute penalty from Dane Richards proving the decider, the JFF is likely to come out on the losing end from a financial perspective, falling well short on anticipated returns from gate receipts.

Sparse turnout

It would have perhaps been optimistic to expect that, with the four-year international football cycle only in its preliminary stages, a match between the Caribbean's fiercest rivals would have filled the National Stadium, but Sunday's sparse turnout would have been a disappointment by any standard.

In fact, the 30,000 capacity venue was less than half-filled with an estimate of around 8,000 fans attending the game.

"We are very disappointed. I expected to see a lot more fans. We are all aware of the inclement weather and all these things, I know we are going to suffer great loss in terms of the financials. It was important for us to have a friendly international at this time and these are some of the hiccups," president of the JFF, Captain Horace Burrell, told members of the media following Sunday's game.

While the the official figures have not been released, the organisation suffered an estimated $9 million loss in potential earnings in a friendly against Costa Rica in September, which the team also won 1-0; and was witnessed by a much larger crowd.

The JFF also suffered a $4.8-million loss in the previous home game, which saw Jamaica host Canada in January.

Hosting home matches often costs the JFF a tidy sum, as they are required to foot the costs of airfare, accommodation, transportation, match fees, meals, stadium rental and security.

Soldiering on

However, despite a less-than-rosy return as it relates to gate receipts and being handcuffed by debts somewhere in the region of $100 million, Burrell vowed to soldier on, with perhaps some aid from the Government, current and potential sponsors.

"There are a number of challenges, financially speaking. We have to turn to the Government for some financial support through the Sports Development Foundation and also our sponsors for much-needed assistance at this time," Burrell said.