Reggae Girlz face down US$1 million target

JAMAICA FOOTBALL Federation (JFF) General Secretary Dennis Chung says he is banking on the internal administrative changes in order to meet their monetary target to prepare the national senior women’s team for the Women’s World Cup.

Chung estimated that the total cost of preparation for the Reggae Girlz’s second consecutive World Cup finals to be US$1 million (J$151 million), part of which has been secured through FIFA.

According to Chung, not only is there hope for getting corporate interest in helping to meet the target, but also the hope that his organisation will be able to better capitalise on their brand, with a marketing consultant set to be finalised by the middle of the month.

“There is some funding that we got already and we have some persons who are coming on to speak to us about sponsorship. Hopefully, we are going to get a well-known marketing consultant this month. We should have that announcement in the next two weeks. We are going to be reaching out to some sponsors to see if we can get someone,” Chung told The Gleaner.

“One of the things we are going to be looking at this year is to see how much we can generate because there is a lot of brand value in the JFF and Jamaican football.”

Chung was not specific in terms of the money already received. However, more than US$11 million was earmarked by FIFA for the 2019 tournament for the 24 participating teams, with Jamaica reportedly set to receive or have already received US$480,000 (J$65 million). The 2023 edition will be the first tournament to feature 32 teams.

While FIFA Secretary-General Fatma Samoura indicated last year that discussions were ongoing to increase the prize pot for this year’s tournament to US$100 million, nothing has been finalised. Jamaica were awarded US$750,000 having made it to the group stage in 2019.

PARTNERSHIP

Although the administration saw a deficit last year, Chung says that he is optimistic in not only narrowing the gap but being able to attract sponsorship and partnership on the back of the federation’s changes to its personnel and internal structure.

“We have done the budget. We see that there is a deficit. We don’t think it’s difficult to close that deficit based on what we want. We are going to be putting some things in place in terms of sponsorship. With the whole thing of both branding and JFF changing, I think we will able to do that. Even in the diaspora, people are interested in terms of assisting us,” Chung said.

“We are going to be making a big push in terms of sponsorship in terms of raising funds. Some of the sales, e-commerce sales and that sort of thing will kick in also.”

Those changes include the voting structure being expanded to 56, the appointment of Chung to the general secretary post after Dalton Wint’s exit last year, as well as the deal with Addidas which began its partnership on Monday.

As he begins his first full year in the role, Chung says the changes are crucial to meet their ambitious sponsorship targets.

“We will be able to do it. We have a lot of good plans lined up. Some of it is ambitious but if we don’t aim high, then we certainly won’t even fall where we want to fall. The most important thing is that we change the perception and the image of the JFF. That, for us, is very important,” Chung said.

“And we are going to ensure that we have the proper talent on board. Organisations can’t run without people being motivated and it starts with the whole thing of structuring the JFF in terms of the talent pool,” Chung said.

The Reggae Girlz’s preparation will continue next month when they will compete in a tournament in Australia.

daniel.wheeler@gleanerjm.com