Chung to seek clarity from PFJL following chairman’s comments
Published:Saturday | January 28, 2023 | 1:06 AMOrane Buchanan/Staff Reporter
FOLLOWING a call earlier this week by chairman of Professional Football Jamaica Limited (PFJL), Christopher Williams, for the number of teams in the Jamaica Premier League to be reduced from 14 to 10, general secretary of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), Dennis Chung, has stated that the 14-team league creates an opportunity for the development of players in the country.
“If you look at it from a ‘money’ point of view and say that 10 clubs are more affordable than 14, then you could also say that eight clubs are more affordable than 10. The consideration as to how many clubs you have depends on how many players you have in the system because you want to accommodate players for development and growth, the less clubs you have the less opportunities that you’ll have,” said Chung.
The JFF general secretary said that it was impossible for him to see the comments made by Williams as just his personal views and independent of the PFJL and he will be responding to that body in writing.
“I can only conclude that this is the position of the PFJL because I don’t think that you would comment, even though he said that he was commenting as a passionate football fan. We can’t separate it, so I have to assume in my capacity that the comment is being made on behalf of the PFJL. I intend to write to PFJL and ask them to advise us what the situation is and what their views are,” Chung pointed out.
Chung added that having the matter rectified at the earliest possible time would be ideal as the comments have already sent speculations around the football community that a reduction in the number of teams is on the cards.
“Already a club has called me and asked which four teams are going to be dropped? So, you don’t want to have any distractions and obviously as I said I can only conclude that this is coming from the PFJL. It’s important to understand that the development of football and how the competition is set up, the Premier League is under the purview of the JFF. Remember the PFJL is not just the board, but the clubs. The PFJL and the JFF had agreed on the 14 teams, so it was a joint decision and now I have to believe that their position has now changed,” he said.