JFF to clear $90m deficit by December
Published:Saturday | October 5, 2024 | 12:09 AMLivingston Scott/Gleaner Writer
General secretary of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) Dennis Chung said the federation is on a path to eliminating its financial liabilities, and projects a complete eradication of a $90-million deficit on their books by the end of the year.
Chung revealed they have reduced the deficit from last year’s $240 million to $90 million while payables have been significantly reduced by more than $100 million.
“We are down to $90 million now in terms of the deficit. We are pretty confident in the projections that we have that we should be able to eliminate that.
“We still have massive payables coming forward. We have reduced it from over $400 million to $300 million, by over $100 million, and we still have a negative current ratio.
“We have better cash flow management, but we still have an issue to deal with in terms of cash flow. But with some initiatives that we have on the cards now, we are hoping that by the end of the year we should clear it off,” he said.
He noted that FIFA remains the number-one financial source for JFF, followed by Adidas, then corporate sponsors, and the government.
However, he is insisting that a lot of the financial gains they have been able to make have been strictly down to good financial management.
“Adidas contract actually adds a lot. I don’t think the JFF could survive without that. We have, however, been getting a lot of funding support from FIFA, as the world football federation gives a lot of funding support to organisations around the world.
“But the management of the money (is important). I think the team here has managed very well. So it is the management of the budget that has been the most important thing and the team here has been doing an excellent job.
“The hope is that we will wipe out the deficit totally by the end of this year. So for the first time the JFF will be facing a positive current ratio, with current assets greater than current liabilities. So we are in a good position from that point of view,” he stated.
He added also that they are closer to getting restricted funding from FIFA lifted very soon, after a recent audit by the world governing body.
“FIFA just completed an audit with us and the feedback that we got is that things have improved significantly over the prior year. We are expecting and we are hoping that we will be able to rectify the restricted funding very soon and I would say we are in a much better position,” Chung said.