PFJL’s Hill slams bottle-throwing incidents at JPL semis
Published:Tuesday | May 14, 2024 | 12:09 AMLivingston Scott/Gleaner Writer
Chief Executive Officer of Professional Football Jamaica Limited (PFJL) Owen Hill says there are still cultural issues affecting local football that need to be addressed following bottle-throwing incidents at Sabina Park on Sunday during the Jamaica Premier League (JPL) second-leg semi-final between Cavalier and Arnett Gardens.
Hill said the PFJL will be reviewing the incident and see how they can prevent such incidents in the future.
“There are some things that we need to correct as a nation. Try as we may, there are some cultural issues that we need to solve. But I would say it is a matter of exuberance,” he said.
“We know the fans supporting both teams have a certain type of energy. It could have gotten out of hand, but it was dealt with quickly and the game continued. They (supporters) need to ensure they continue to support local football by adhering to the rules and the regulations and do what is right for the sport.
“We do not want to have incidents like these that can quickly escalate into things that could be worse. Hopefully, as we go forward, there are areas we can improve, like crowd management, gate control and internal stadium management relating to these type of issues. So we have some things to fix, and we are just happy that we were able to escape without any real injuries,” Hill said.
Tensions were high from even before the start of the game, as both camps wrestled with the choice of match balls, with Arnett Gardens officials refusing to play with the balls provided by the home team, Cavalier.
This incensed Cavalier coach Rudolph Speid, who refused to surrender his home team’s responsibility of providing match balls. The dispute led to the start of the game being delayed by10 minutes.
During the match, Arnett’s fans became irritated after they thought referee Okeito Nicholson denied them a penalty early on. They became even more incensed when a penalty was awarded against their team moments later, and missiles rained on the playing area, delaying play for another eight minutes.
Towards the end of the game, bottles were thrown again as spectators vented their disapproval with more decisions made by the referee.
Nevertheless, Hill believes that the brief moment of madness by passionate fans was not enough to dampen what has been some exciting action in the play-offs so far.
“Partners do not want to see this. They are very uncomfortable seeing things like this. But it is a blip I would say, because we have had a good play-offs so far, and 10 minutes of a little bit of madness probably feels bad, but overall, we have had some good performances,” he said.
Arnett’s coach Xavier Gilbert said the incident was a big disappointment and that fans must keep emotions in check when decisions do not go their way.
‘I don’t support it one bit. It is unfortunate, and I must apologise on behalf of the Arnett Gardens team. I am not saying Arnett Gardens fans threw the bottles, but I am still apologising for the entire incident because it doesn’t look good for something that is being watched worldwide.
“Sometimes decisions do not go our way; but whether it is the right decision or not, we have to ensure that we control our emotions,” he said.