JFF target September camp for Boyz
Published:Thursday | August 20, 2020 | 12:25 AMDaniel Wheeler/Staff Reporter
National senior men’s team manager Roy Simpson says that he is hopeful for a September training camp for the team, as they look to kickstart preparations for next June’s FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
The camp is expected to take place at the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF)/Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Mona Campus.
While concerned about the recent spike in COVID-19 cases across the island, Simpson says that they are still awaiting clearance from the Ministry of Health to approve the plans that they have sent to safeguard the players.
“Why we are still on hold is because we haven’t gotten a response yet from the Ministry of Health based on the training camp protocols that we had submitted to them for approval,” Simpson told The Gleaner. “So we are still waiting on them for that approval.”
Jamaica has recently experienced a spike in the daily number of reported cases over the past couple weeks, which has led to community quarantines in St Thomas and Clarendon.
MONITORING THE SITUATION
Simpson said that they were monitoring the situation in light of the spike and can only rely on the decision of the local authorities on how to proceed.
“We are concerned, however, based on the fact that we had submitted those protocols, we are just anticipating what the response will be,” Simpson said.
Meanwhile, JFF General Secretary Dalton Wint said that in addition to the approval to start camp for the Reggae Boyz, they were awaiting clearance from the organisation for potential international games in preparation for the final round of qualifying.
The Reggae Boyz will face the United States, Mexico, Costa Rica and Honduras in the final round of qualifying, as well as three additional countries as part of the changes made to the final round format.
The regular six-team tournament has been expanded to eight teams as part of the new qualifying structure approved by Concacaf and FIFA.
Jamaica will start with away matches against Mexico, Costa Rica, United States and Honduras in four of their six opening games.