Hislop blasts JFF’s colonial attitude - Former Trini star believes leaked negotiations tape similar to dispute with TTFA in 2006
Published:Wednesday | January 6, 2021 | 12:14 AMDaniel Wheeler/Staff Reporter
Former Trinidad and Tobago international goalkeeper and current ESPN football analyst, Shaka Hislop, described a leaked recording of payment negotiations between the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) hierarchy and Reggae Boyz team captain Damion Lowe as proof of a lack of progress in football administration and man-management in the region.
The call involved centre back Lowe, JFF President Michael Ricketts, General Secretary Dalton Wint, Vice-President Bruce Gaynor and Team Manager Roy Simpson.
In it, Lowe was acting on behalf of the squad to negotiate the payment structure for two friendly internationals against Saudi Arabia in November.
A recording has been making the rounds on social media, with the JFF top brass facing heavy criticism for their approach and tone throughout the 20-minute recording.
Hislop has criticised the aggressive attitude that was displayed by the JFF leadership, saying that the conversation displayed an authoritative nature, which brought back memories of his advocacy for his teammates against his own federation in 2006.
“When we were in the midst of our discussions with the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA), I had a private conversation with someone within the TTFA, who said that the attitudes of a lot of the gentlemen involved with the football federation at the time were very colonial in nature. That their position was that, without them – using the term that administrator used with me – ‘those little black boys wouldn’t have a dime’,” Hislop told The Gleaner.
“And that, for me, you saw elements of during this conversation, that the football federations believe that they are the overlords, and that, for me, is kind of typical in so many of the things that were said,” added Hislop, who as a member of the Trinidad and Tobago’s senior men’s team took the TTFA to court over unpaid bonuses promised from their 2006 World Cup campaign and won their case.
NOT MEETING PLAYERS’ DEMANDS
The Reggae Boyz’s friendly internationals against Saudi Arabia were at risk, with the Boyz, who had already arrived in Saudi Arabia without an agreement in place, reportedly threatening not to take the field if their demand of US$2,000 ($287,000) per game was not met.
During the revealing recording, which took place prior to the players’ departure to Saudi Arabia, an initial offer of US$1,000 ($143,000) per match was presented and rejected. After several minutes of heated, unstructured and unsavoury discussions, the offer was eventually increased to US$1,500 ($215,000), which Lowe informed that he will present to the players.
Hislop believes that the Reggae Boyz’s demands of US$2,000 per game were not unreasonable, and did not condone the attitude displayed in the talks by the federation leadership.
“Interjecting in the middle of a sentence to ask Damion if he thinks that the JFF was running a patty shop, it smacks of disrespect for Damion’s position and intellect. How can you carry on conversations with a man like Damion, who is handling himself as well as he is, with his own academic and professional background and your opening sentence is ‘Listen to me, son’,” Hislop pointed out.
“I mean, that just smacks of an authoritarian position within the JFF that in honesty – and again credit to Damion who somehow, in the best interest of Jamaican football and in the best interest of his teammates, kind of ignored (the comment), because I would have hung up the phone! That would have been the end of our discussions,” added Hislop, who represented the likes of Newcastle, West Ham, Portsmouth and Reading throughout his career.
Hislop in convinced that the creation of long-term contracts for the players similar to the Collective Bargaining Agreement structure in the United States would help to alleviate such tensions. However, he is not optimistic about such steps being taken in the future.
Meanwhile, attempts were made to contact Ricketts, Wint and Simpson, but calls to the respective parties went unanswered.
The payment issue was eventually resolved with the Boyz going on to lose their opening game 3-0 before winning the second 2-1.
It was the latest in a long list of issues with the federation regarding payment to its players.
The senior women’s team in 2019 threaten not to take the field for the first round of their Olympic qualifiers if they were not paid their agreed monies stemming from the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, while Hue Menzies resigned as senior women’s head coach in December of that year because of outstanding monies owed to him.