No plans to take JFF to court just yet – Anderson
Published:Wednesday | January 10, 2024 | 12:10 AMLivingston Scott/Gleaner Writer
JAMAICA FOOTBALL Federation (JFF) presidential candidate Raymond Anderson said that seeking justice through the courts is not in his team’s intention, when he spoke to The Gleaner earlier this week.
Anderson, whose team drafted an appeal to the electoral committee, the body overseeing a JFF election on Sunday, citing ethical breaches to FIFA’s Ethics Code, said FIFA’s constitution suggests going through the courts should only take place after every other possible channel is exhausted.
“Our minds haven’t reached there as yet,” Anderson told The Gleaner. “We cannot speak about the constitution and do not understand the constitution with FIFA.
“You follow all the procedures and I believe that somewhere clarity will be given and justice will be done. But we do not have to go to the courts,” he stated.
In the appeal document to the electoral committee, the Real Solid Action (RSA) team pointed to breaches in the FIFA ethics code such as conflict of interest, naming Rudolph Speid, the technical committee chairman and Cavalier boss who is now seeking a place on the board, and electoral committee chairman Christopher Samuda, who is also the JFF’s governance committee chairman and the Jamaica Olympic Association president.
It also called President Michael Ricketts unfit to contest the elections due to a civil court ruling against him in 2022 for defamation.
However, Anderson insists that: “The court is there. It is an option. But we are not thinking in that line at this time.
“We are asking the bodies to take a look at the constitution, and we know that somewhere along the line we might get justice. So we have to follow that. But you must go to the ultimate. You must follow all procedures before you move to the next level.”
He said after numerous letters, regarding their concerns, to the electoral committee, with no response. The next step was to launch the appeal.
“We have to appeal because up to now we are following the procedure. So we are going to appeal to the JFF appeal committee. That’s our next stop,” he declared.
He noted that there are other ways beside going through the courts to seek recourse, and that if necessary, those avenues will be explored after Sunday’s poll.
“I am a person who believes in faith and I will never ignore the steps. The first step was that we appeal to the electoral committee. So the next step is to the appeals committee.
“Then there could be other ways for recourse. It might be after the election but there are other ways we can go to this. But I believe in the process and that is where my head space is,” said Ricketts.
Nevertheless, he noted that disenfranchised members such as Beach Soccer Association, Jamaica Football Coaches Association, Jamaica Football Referees Association and the Intercollegiate Association could seek their own form of justice.
“You have people who have been disenfranchised on these bodies and they have their own jurisdiction. You have beach soccer, referees, intercollegiate and coaches. All of them, disenfranchised because of dishonesty and those disenfranchised organisations have all the right to seek their justice. And they want justice,” he said.