Wint: It will be difficult to salvage RSPL season

General secretary of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) Dalton Wint says the ongoing impact of the coronavirus and its prognosis means it will be very difficult to salvage the 2019-20 Red Stripe Premier League (RSPL) season.

“It looks very unlikely that the (2019-20) Premier League (RSPL) season will be completed,” Wint said last Friday, while adding that he had heard that the peak (of the coronavirus) will be in another month.

There are still four rounds to be completed in the RSPL regular season before the play-offs. It is likely that all four rounds will have to be played, as the top six for the play-offs remain undecided.

The relegation picture is clearer with UWI FC and Vere United close to relegation.

Last Wednesday, the Premier League Clubs Association (PLCA) held preliminary discussions on the way forward and the RSPL will remain suspended until April 30. However, Wint is hoping that the PLCA holds back on any hasty and premature decisions as he says if the league is scrapped it could have serious repercussions.

“We need to have a wait-and-see attitude, what you don’t want to do is lock it down prematurely. It (RSPL) is a huge investment and a cancelled season will have a huge impact on how we administrate the sports going forward, so they have to be sure of what they are doing before any decision is made,” he stated.

On a more optimistic note, Wint believes the world will recover from the virus in time for the August 31 start of the Concacaf Hexagonal (top 6) World Cup qualifiers to begin.

“It is something that will pass. It will take some time, but if we don’t do the right things, it will prolong and make our lives a little harder, so we have to follow the recommendations and ride through the storm. But I think the World Cup qualifiers will be OK,” he added.

HIGH ALERT

Like most organisations, the JFF is on high alert and has implemented stringent measures to secure staff and others from the dreaded virus, and Wint believes it will take some time for the federation and football fraternity to fully recover.

“We had to call off an Under-17 camp we were halfway through, then another one should have started, but we had to call it off. We had to cancel our (friendly) games, and we were trying to schedule games for the (April) international window, so it is a financial loss to us. The June window could be off too, so it has impacted us financially,” Wint said.

The JFF general secretary said the federation is doing all it can to help in the social distancing the Government has called for.

“For the office itself, we are working mostly from home. We get essential persons to come in, but they do not spend too much time, and the people we ask to come to the office are those who drive,” he said.