JFF running out of patience

The Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) is growing increasingly frustrated with the first team Reggae Girlz and their efforts towards the reconciliation process, one JFF source has revealed.

According to the insider, who wished not to be named, they have continuously reached out to the Girlz to sit and resolve the issues affecting them.

However, the Girlz have avoided and put off scheduled meetings, the source said.

The high-ranking JFF official disclosed that the Girlz turned down an invitation to their follow-up meeting from last Friday to rectify matters, and he says the Girlz’s behaviour suggests they are not keen on having the matter resolved.

“The federation is fed-up with the Girlz. They were supposed to come back to us, but they didn’t. We asked them at the meeting (last Friday) to withdraw their unavailability for selection. They said they cannot do that. They (said they) have to go back and talk with the (other) Girlz and they will come back to us.

“So right now we have reached nowhere because they were supposed to come back to us before the end of this week, but Friday has come and they still haven’t come back to us,” he noted.

NOT AVAILABLE

The insider noted that JFF general secretary Dennis Chung recently emailed the Girlz’s representative to make arrangements for the meeting this week, but he was not available.

“When Mr Chung wrote to them, we got an automatic response from the man from FIF PRO (International Federation of Professional Footballers), that he was not in office.

“But even before the last match (against Guatemala) we had arranged a meeting and they never turned up either.

“Now we had reported that they were to come back this week and they haven’t done that. So clearly they do not want to settle anything,” the official said.

Meanwhile, at a JFF press conference on Thursday, Chung stated the federation hoped to resolve the issue before year-end, especially after they completed all outstanding payments to them.

“We are hoping that by the end of this year, we would have resolved the other issues that has plagued us with the players at the World Cup.

“We want to resolve that issue and ensure that everyone is available. We had a meeting last Friday to discuss primarily the issue of payment because there was a statement made that no payment was made to some persons, which we didn’t support,” he declared.

“We know that we sent off all the payment for the players and we sent the details to them, but we haven’t heard anything as yet, and we haven’t gotten any names (of players who weren’t paid).

“We are not saying that people might not have received it, but that we know that we have sent it off,” he said.

He added that having paid up all the money owed to the Girlz, they had hoped to meet again this week, as it may be the last chance they having of coming to a mutual agreement before the turn of the year.

“In terms of moving forward we had asked to have another meeting and they were to get back to us. We were willing to meet at anytime this week.

“I told them if we did not have this meeting I couldn’t guarantee another until next year, given the (Christmas) season,” he said.

The first team Reggae Girlz made themselves unavailable for selection after returning from the World Cup, citing issues with money, travel arrangements and technical appointments, but Chung said the major issue has been addressed.

“But the main thing was the payment issue and we have confirmed we have made all the payments. So we were hoping to have the meeting by the end of the week and deal with any other feedback,” he commented.

However, the insider added that the players will have no say in technical decisions.

“They have told them that when it comes to the technical staff they cannot pick any technical personnel,” the source stated.

livingston.scott@gleanerjm.com