‘I’m ready and willing’ - CPL’s Michael Hall offering assistance to JFF for start of Premier League
Published:Monday | December 14, 2020 | 12:13 AMLivingston Scott/Gleaner Writer
Caribbean Premier League (CPL) Director of Operations, Michael Hall, is eager to offer his assistance to the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) to help formulate COVID-19 protocols for the start of the Premier League.
Hall says that as a fan of local football, he is frustrated to see that leagues all over the world have resumed, while the JFF awaits Government approval for its season.
He says that the CPL is a very different proposition from the Premier League but thinks he has valuable experience in organising that tournament and can contribute to establishing a solid plan.
“If they wish, I am available to the Jamaica Football Federation because I want to see football,” Hall told The Gleaner. “I am not saying I am a saviour, but I do believe I have something to offer, and I would be happy to help in whatever shape or form.
“It is frustrating because I see football playing on my TV every week all over the world, and we can’t see any football being played here in Jamaica. So I would like to sit with them and share what my experience was. It might not be that they replicate what I did because the situation was different, but I am ready and willing to assist.”
Professional Football
But Hall says that with the revamping of the league’s organising body, Professional Football Jamaica Limited, maybe the JFF feels it already has all the expertise it needs.
However, he does not believe that football representatives are being as thorough as they need to be in appeasing the Ministry of Health and Wellness in granting the approval of their protocols.
“I am really talking in a vacuum because I am not really on the inside, but if I could see what the plan was, maybe I could help them fine-tune it,” he said.” But it appears to me that some things are missing as we still cannot get the go-ahead from the ministry despite the JFF submitting two proposals.
“The JFF keep saying they are going to start on X date, but then the ministry comes out right after and says there is no approval.
“So it seems they are not speaking with each other, and that is one of the first steps. You must have a clear communication with the health authorities or you are not going anywhere.”
While organising the CPL in Trinidad and Tobago earlier this year, Hall said that they had to be in constant dialogue with the health authorities, and especially the chief medical officer until they were able to prove their capabilities in managing the plan they had submitted.
However, if he gets the opportunity to work with local football organisers, he would also draw on the expertise and experience of other administrators in other jurisdictions.
But being able to administer rapid antigen testing, which returns a result in less than a hour, will be very essential he said.
“I have not actually seen any document, but I hear it (the league) is going to be localised, and they will only use few venues,” Hall said. “If that is the case, you are going to have to administer the rapid antigen test. And we will have to have many of those, maybe twice a week, and before every game.
“Also, the whole logistics around providing those tests for the 12 teams, like where are the tests going to be centrally delivered, will also be important. So there are so many boxes that you have to tick, and maybe that is why the Ministry of Health hasn’t approved the JFF’s plans so far. But I would be happy to look at whatever plans they have and see if I can assist in any way in terms of the protocols that they are trying to put forward.”
Hall is also a former Sports Development Foundation executive and a Cricket West Indies director of operations.