‘It cannot wait’
PFJL chairman commits to making livelihood for JPL players ahead of 10-year MoU schedule
Published:Thursday | February 22, 2024 | 12:11 AMLivingston Scott/Gleaner Writer
CHAIRMAN OF Professional Football Jamaica Limited (PFJL) Christopher Williams reaffirmed his commitment to ensuring that local footballers earn sufficiently from playing in the Jamaica Premier League during the announcement of a renewal of a memorandum of understanding between itself and the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) at the latter’s offices yesterday.
Williams insists that the PFJL will not need 10 years, the length of the MoU extension, to achieve the goal and that the intention is to make this happen in the shortest possible time.
“It cannot wait,” he told The Gleaner.
Williams would not offer a timeline because he said he was not one to just talk but believed that in the near future, young local footballers would aspire to play in the league based on earning potential.
“I watch the per capita salary for my ballers in my league, and we are determined to move that significantly and in X time.
“I will not say how much and what time, but I am zoned in on that as we want to move the income level of the players,” said Williams.
He added also that the PFJL intended to make the most of the duration of the MOU and had some elaborate plans to improve on what had been done in the last three-plus years.
“We are very well trained now, having gone through the last three and a half seasons. We understand the landscape much better, the sponsorship structure, the broadcast, the betting, the gates, and we understand what fans want to see.
“We understand the scouting, so we just signed Wyscout. We understand replica sales. So we are in negotiations with apparel companies so the shirt looks cuter because people are buying the shirts for leisure.
“We have a great team leading the effort, and we feel we have the resources to deliver. We are motivated. So Jamaica, we thank you for the support. We will not let you down. Look out for more. We haven’t reached anywhere yet, but this 10-year deal, we are going to deliver,” he said.
FULLY JUSTIFIED
JFF president Michael Ricketts said it was a no-brainer giving the PFJL such a massive extension. Ricketts said the organisation had performed far above expectations and that the 10-year extension was fully justified.
“We saw that football was in good and capable hands. So today (Wednesday), we will revamp the MoU with the PFJL and the JFF.
“We made some adjustments, but most significant is that the term will be 10 years. We believe that it is very important to give them some time to positively impact the sport,” said Ricketts.
Meanwhile, the articles of the new MoU include things such as club compliance and criteria for participation.
It will allow for deeper involvement from the PFJL, which has now been granted a spot on the JFF’s competitions committee.
It speaks to financing and the PFJL’s responsibility to commercialise and develop the football league.
The MoU also speaks to regulatory matters and where the responsibility lies for that.
Also for greater efficiency, the JFF will now handle all the accounting back-office operations of the PFJL, which will allow the PFJL to focus on operations and commercialisation.
“So we are really just deepening the partnership and showing there is full commitment,” JFF general secretary Dennis Chung said.
The PFJL had a year remaining on its previous agreement with the JFF.