JFF, Reggae Girlz talk it over
Published:Wednesday | June 21, 2023 | 1:50 AMLivingston Scott/Gleaner Writer
JAMAICA FOOTBALL Federation (JFF) general secretary, Dennis Chung, said he met with members of the Reggae Girlz yesterday to discus some of their concerns, and was due to meet with coach Lorne Donaldson later in the day to in an attempt to rectify any issues they may have ahead of the World Cup, which starts July 20.
In a recent letter, the Reggae Girlz complained of subpar planning, transportation, accommodations, training conditions, compensation, communication, nutrition and access to proper resources.
They also pointed out that disorganised planning meant they were unable to host an international friendly during a week-long camp in the country.
However, Chung said in his meeting with the ladies, they admitted that many of the contents of the letter were not factual. He said they also pointed out that they would prefer to work out internal issues in-house instead of publicly in the media.
“We had a meeting with the Girlz this (yesterday) morning, and when you looked at the letter that was written, it is far from factual, and they have admitted that much, because between the president and myself, everything that the Girlz have requested, we have provided,” said Chung.
“They are also asking why everything has to go public and that they rather these things be dealt with internally. I am also supposed to meet with Lorne this (yesterday) afternoon to address these issues and get them sorted out,” he declared.
The Reggae Girlz were also due to play practice games against Puerto Rico and Colombia.
However, none of these games materialised and Chung gave a full explanation.
“We had a mishap with the Puerto Rico games. We were supposed to play them on the 15th and 18th but we couldn’t do anything because they did not respond to us.
“We had the games arranged and everything but when we tried to get in touch, there was no response, so there was nothing we could do,” he said.
He added also that they were also suppose to play Colombia at home on the 25th and then travel to Colombia for the return game on the 29th, but they never had the money to cover the away trip.
“We were to send the Girlz to Colombia on the 29th but unless we got a sponsor, that was not possible and we didn’t get a sponsor so we couldn’t play that game,” he said.