Donaldson, JFF close to agreement on contract

With the national senior women’s team scheduled to play on home soil in November for the first time in seven months, the contracts for national interim head coach Lorne Donaldson and his staff are, according to him, all but complete.

The Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) announced that the Reggae Girlz are booked to play Paraguay in a two-game international series in November, the final window of the year as they continue their preparations for next summer’s FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

Donaldson, who was brought in on a short-term deal for their successful Concacaf Women’s Championship campaign, has been in negotiations for his contract to be extended for him to take charge of the team for next year’s tournament.

Negotiations were expected to be completed after their recent international friendlies against South Korea last month but now Donaldson said that finalising the deal for him and his staff should be completed shortly as he looks to take advantage of the next two windows to continue evaluating his team.

“It looks like everything is going well with it (contract) and it looks like it should be wrapped up at any minute. So I don’t think that is a worry for us right now,” Donaldson told The Gleaner. “I would give it a few more days and then everything should be finalised. But we are not too worried about it because it looks like everything has been dealt with.”

JFF president Michael Ricketts said that the negotiations with Donaldson have not encountered any pitfalls and is confident that the matter can be put to rest for the full focus to be on the tournament.

“He is always somebody that is easy to have discussions with. So negotiations weren’t difficult, to be honest, and we have virtually concluded. And now we are just waiting to formalise the process,” Ricketts said. “We have a gentleman’s arrangement that they are comfortable with the contents of the contract and it is just for them to formalise the process and so we should be good to go.”

Jamaica will play their first game against Paraguay at the Montego Bay Sports Complex in Catherine Hall, Montego Bay, on November 10 before concluding the series in Kingston at the National Stadium on November 13.

Citing the November and February windows as crucial in the construction of their group for the tournament, Donaldson said that he wants to make sure that they keep the continuity as well as not leave the young players out.

“So we just want to make sure that we are bringing in some players and we are trying to keep the core together and put in some other players that we are looking at and bring in a few youngsters in just to have a look,” Donaldson said.

Jamaica will know their first round opponents when the World Cup draw takes place on October 22.

daniel.wheeler@gleanerjm.com