Speid hits back
Rubbishes claims that his coaches’ association is illegitimate
Published:Thursday | December 7, 2023 | 12:09 AMLivingston Scott/Gleaner Writer
PRESIDENT OF the Jamaica Coaches’ Association (JCA) Rudolph Speid has come out to defend the organisation after Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) presidential candidate Raymond Anderson and his team labelled it illegal.
In a press conference at the Liguanea Club on Monday to detail allegations of unfair practices on the part of the incumbent Michael Ricketts team, of which Speid is a part, Anderson’s Real Solid Action (RSA) campaign team said the seven groups making up pillar three of the voting blocks, which include the coaches’ association, existed up to last December, but apart from not being given notice about requirements to be part of voting in the next JFF election until this September, have been replaced with newly formed organisations, including Speid’s.
Kingston and St Andrew Football Association (KSAFA) vice-president Carvel Stewart suggested that new pillar three groups were being registered while older ones were deregistered.
He said the Speid-led JCA was not a legal entity with Companies Office, saying that there was no proof of its certification of incorporation.
Anderson also believes that some of the requirements on the federation’s checklist for the various groups were very trivial.
However, Speid insists that the RSA’s declarations were not true and that there was nothing illegal about the formation of his organisation and that it came down to the JFF to decide which organisation they would accept.
He stated that his coaches’ association has been in existence since 2020 and that the only reason they were late in registering their entity was because of difficulties they encountered due to the closeness in name to the Vin Blane-led Jamaica Football Coaches’ Association (JFCA).
According to the RSA, the Jamaica Coaches’ Association was formed to get rid of the older, more established JFCA, run by Vin Blaine.
ISSUES WITH REGISTRATION
“We registered this year, but the organisation was formed in 2020. We had issues with registration because there was already a coaching association.
“The name was too close to Vin Blaine’s association’s name. So we couldn’t get the coaches’ association (name) from the authorities. So we came up with a way to get that name registered, and we registered it this year.
“Our name is JCA Administrator Limited. We didn’t use the words. We use the initials, and JCA means Jamaica Coaches’ Association,” he explained.
He argued that the Anderson team complained about trivial requirements on the checklist instead of following due process and ticking all the boxes.
He also believes that his organisation is far more active and effective than the Jamaica Football Coaches’ Association.
“The board is responsible for deciding which of the organisations is more valuable to them and preferred to use this organisation.
“They (JFCA) didn’t have a coach that has an international coaching badge. My members now have A-licensed coaches. We have B- and C-licensed coaches and have taught over 600 coaches.
“We can also now teach the C and B licences here in Jamaica. So who is more worthy now, regardless of what they used to do? Why would the JFF put them in charge of coaching now when we have been more efficient?
“Incomplete paperwork is their downfall. Raymond knows the constitution. It is they who failed to inform the persons who they wanted to vote. So when they came to the board, the application was not done.
“But we met all the requirements, and if you don’t tick all the boxes, the JFF will have a problem.”
He added that KSAFA members of Anderson’s team, who include Stewart and president Mark Bennett, are on a witch hunt against him and that they need to get their facts straight.
He recalled that a few years ago, the KSAFA wrote to the JFF president and was on every media platform saying that his roles in numerous football organisations were a direct conflict of interest with his role as technical committee chairman.
One of the bodies, he said the KSAFA pointed out that he headed, was the JCA.
“Carvel Stewart is now saying that I am not (JCA president). So he uses it when it suits him, and when it doesn’t, he says I am not.
“They (KSAFA) wrote to Michael Ricketts saying I am conflicted, and the coaches’ association was one of the associations they said I headed, and that was in 2020. So how come now I am not the president when he said I am?”