The Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) National Tier II competition, which was scheduled to kick off today with a full slate of games, has been postponed until next weekend because of late registration by some teams.
According to a JFF release, some clubs did not complete their registration on the FIFA Connect platform, while some clubs’ registration forms were not signed and stamped by the respective football association (FA) and some medical certificates are still outstanding.
It noted that delinquent clubs must submit their registrations to the JFF Competitions Department by at latest 5 p.m. Friday (yesterday) or face disqualification.
JFF technical committee chairman, Rudolph Speid, pointed out that the JFF has established very strict regulations in its effort to develop the game and insists they will not lower their operating standards.
“All players must be registered on the Connect system before we start. We have 10 out of the 14 (teams) fully registered so we decided to give them some extra time to do it properly because we will not compromise with where we are in the development of the football,” he commented.
Speid said that most of the clubs were near completion in their registrations and he expected them to meet the deadline.
“If they are not ready they will be put out. We will give it a little time but definitely we will start next weekend.
“But if they do not meet the deadline it means they do not have the standard to be at this level,” he stated.
He added also that the delay to the start won’t have an impact on the competition but emphasised that it is important to get the administrative side of things correct.
“We want to ensure that the system works properly and that they do not have to start from scratch when they reach the Jamaica Premier League.
“So this is making sure they get it right. Plus it protects the integrity of the competition, as only bona fide players are registered on the system,” he said.