By Paul-Andre Walker, Staff ReporterTHE MANCHESTER Football Association Major League has been given a lifeline by Dunsinane Quarry after weeks of confusion over neglected sponsorship commitments.
Dunsinane Quarry, a subsidiary of Black Brothers Incorporated, have for a number of years sponsored the league but it seemed they were in the process of severing those ties.
However, Patrick Crawford, chief executive officer of Dunsinane Quarry, told The Gleaner on Friday that: "We will be sponsoring the competition for 2004-05."
"There was a breakdown in communication. It's just sheer misunderstanding and poor communication," he explained. "We're committed to football in the parish and not only the parish because we also sponsor the Super League in Clarendon."
The MFA had told The Gleaner before then that its league was scheduled to kick off on Saturday last but because they never had a sponsor it was being postponed.
Further, payment of cash prizes to teams that won titles last season never happened as the football association had not received any part of Dunsinane Quarry's cash commitment of $560,000 until Friday.
"I have a cheque for $250,000 and I have received a promise of payment by March 31," confirmed MFA president, Dale Spencer on Friday.
"I will meet with the teams to explain that I have received some of the money and explain how long it will take before they are paid."
Asked why it had taken so long, the MFA president attested to "a breakdown in communication", whereby the Board of Dunsinane Quarry wrote them saying they were not aware of the intended sponsorship for last season as the FA had never made a written request, even though they picked up on the contract in the first year.
THE ROOT OF THE PROBLEM
Further investigations, however, suggested that may not have been the root of the problem. There is a widely held view within the parish that the lack of payment was due to the MFA's outspoken disapproval of Crenston Boxhill as president of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF).
Management at Dunsinane Quarry favoured the successful Boxhill for the JFF presidential post. Queried about the company withdrawing its support to the league because his MFA executive backed Captain Horace Burrell, Spencer said:
"I can confirm that this is a widely held view within Manchester but the MFA gives no credence to these allegations because Black Brothers have never officially documented such views."
Besides Spencer, another senior Dunsinane Quarry executive, Chief Operations Officer, Mrs. Donna Black-Barrett, also denied they were withdrawing support, and for the reason, too, that the FA did not back Boxhill, himself a MFA president.
"That is absolutely not true," Mrs. Black-Barrett told The Gleaner.
"The non-payment of last season's sponsorship occurred out of a misunderstanding and that was communicated to Mr. Spencer," she added.
Like an injury-time equaliser, Dunsinane Quarry's sponsorship affirmation could not have been more timely as the MFA had said teams would have to bear the burden of participating this season if the sponsorship situation was not solved.
As a result Mile Gully, one team which has suffered from not being paid its cash winnings after finishing third last season, had threatened to pull-out.
"At this time the club is unable to finance the upcoming season so if there is no sponsorship we will not be able to enter the Major League," their manager, Dalton Wint, lamented.
"The club is financially embarrassed and we don't know how we will pay for transportation and gears for the players."
