JFF wants Donaldson for World Cup campaign
Published:Wednesday | July 20, 2022 | 12:06 AMLivingston Scott/Gleaner Writer
JAMAICA FOOTBALL Federation (JFF) president Michael Ricketts has confirmed that Lorne Donaldon will be retained as Reggae Girlz coach for the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand and that the federation will be drafting contracts for the coach and his staff in short order.
Donaldson, whose contract ended yesterday, one day after the Concacaf Women Championships ended in Mexico, had urged the (JFF) to move speedily in filling the vacant coaching position.
Donaldson, who led the team to their second successive World Cup qualification, wants to be the one to take the Reggae Girlz into Australia and New Zealand next year, and called on the federation to act expediently in addressing the situation.
He pointed out that the coaching staff wanted to utilise all the FIFA windows before the World Cup to improve the team and look at new players ahead of the showpiece event.
“On the 19th of this month there will be no contract after that. We will have to sit down as soon as we can because we will have to utilise all these FIFA windows,” Donaldson had said.
“At the end of August there is a window that we will need to get games in to look at where we are and see players we need to bring in. So that is something we need to get done as soon as possible,” he insisted.
Donaldson, who was assistant coach when the team qualified for the 2019 World Cup, took charge of the Reggae Girlz just three weeks ahead of the Concacaf Women’s Championship and despite fitness and other concerns, managed a third-place finish.
Outside of World Cup qualification, the team’s third-place finish also ensured they earn a play-off match against tournamnet runners-up, Canada in a two-way tie next October, with the winner to join tournament winner and automatic qualifier, the United States at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The coach, outside of looking at the competitions to come, also wants to ensure he secures the services of his back room staff as well.
“It is not just me, it is the entire coaching staff. I don’t know if they will go in another direction, so we need to know what’s happening, so we can actually get on with our lives.
“If they are to do it (rehire the same staff), we must come to some quick agreement, so we can move the team.
“The World Cup is not that far away and in the past we haven’t utilised all these FIFA windows. But this time around we will have to if we want to have a football culture,” he stated.
Meanwhile, JFF president, Ricketts, declared that contracts will be drafted soon for Donaldson and his staff, and that the federation intends to use the FIFA windows to generate much-needed funding for the Girlz.
“Absolutely (will rehire Donaldson), that is something we will craft in very short order. His contract would have expired at the end of the qualification. So we will look at organising and redrafting a set of contracts for all the staff members who have been involved in this historic exercise,” Ricketts stated.
“We have seven FIFA windows between now and the World Cup. We must utilise these windows to expose our girls and to ensure that we generate some funds from each of these seven games that we are proposing to play.”