PFJL targeting financial sustainability for JPL clubs

Professional Football Jamaica Limited (PFJL) Chairman Christopher Williams says that the financial sustainability and universal professional structure of the top-flight clubs will be a major focus, as it prepares for the impending changes to Concacaf’s regional club tournament structure.

Concacaf announced on Tuesday a revamping of its club competition ecosystem, which features an expanded 27-team Concacaf Champions League (CCL) and a new Caribbean Club Championship tournament, all to start in 2024.

The new Caribbean Club Championship will see three teams qualify for the CCL, an increase from the current structure, which has only one guaranteed qualifier from the region.

Caribbean Football Union General Secretary Camara David during the launch said that the restructured format would prod the region to move towards the path of professionalism in their practices to improve the quality of their own leagues.

“We are definitely all about growth and development of the professional game. The format gives the impetus really for the clubs now in the Caribbean region to develop themselves, whether we are talking about amateur to semi-pro, semi-pro to professional,” David said. “So it’s about the clubs, it’s about the leagues’ development.”

COMMERCIALLY VIABLE

“We are seeking to make the league more commercially viable. By doing that the clubs would be able to share the profits and therefore be in a position to finance themselves properly,” Williams told The Sunday Gleaner. “This is very important because in the absence of financial support, the clubs are not in a position to staff themselves so that they can operate in a more professional manner. That would depend on volunteerism and that is unsustainable. So we are staying focused on driving commercialisation.”

In addressing the professional structure for the clubs, Williams says that there are plans in place to have training from Concacaf as well as Europe (UEFA) be involved in specific training for club management towards improving the professional standards of the clubs. That training, according to Williams, is set to begin in the first week of October and while such goals were in mind for the next Jamaica Premier League season, Williams says that Concacaf’s announcement has made it imperative to move quickly so that they will be able to be in a position to compete and to benefit.

“We want to kick it off this year so that we have some tangible improvements in the clubs by the time 2024 rolls around. We are just trying to wrap up this Jamaica Premier League (JPL) season. As soon as we wrap up this season, we will move into the training and ecosystem initiatives. But we do have the framework,” Williams said.

Ten clubs will participate in the new Caribbean Cup competition which will feature a group stage and knockout competition. The champion will qualify automatically for the CCL round of 16, while the second- and third-place finishers will be slotted into the first round of the expanded CCL.

daniel.wheeler@gleanerjm