Robert Bailey, Gleaner Writer

In an effort to settle the debt with the English FA., Captain Horace Burrell, president of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), left the island yesterday for the United Kingdom to meet with a representative of the association.

The JFF owes the English FA £135,000 (J$16.2 million) for tickets sold to the previous administration for the England versus Jamaica friendly match at Old Trafford in June 2006.

Burrell flew to England to meet with Simon Johnson, director of corporate affairs for the FA, and other representatives.

Last week, a CMC report quoted excerpts from a press release issued by the English FA, which read: "This debt remains to be paid in full and we expect the JFF to repay it."

Burrell, who said the JFF and the English FA had an agreement, expressed shock at the demand to have the money repaid.

Mind-boggling

"Simon never told us that this was ever going to be a problem," said Burrell in an interview with the British Guardian. "On the contrary, to hear anything else at this stage is mind-boggling."

Johnson confirmed that the FA had sold more than 9,000 tickets to the previous JFF, administration, but the money was never paid over. The JFF collaborated the claims.

The ill-fated tour of the United Kingdom saw the Reggae Boyz go down 4-1 to Ghana, before being thrashed 6-0 by England.

Burrell informed journalists of his trip to the UK at the closing ceremony of the FIFA Administrative Upgrade Course at the Alhambra Inn yesterday.

He also disclosed that Jarrett Park in Montego Bay will host a number of matches in the final round of the Digicel Caribbean Cup, which will be held in Jamaica in December.

He added that the venue was recently refurbished to international standards.

Called answered

"I want to thank the Member of Parliament, Dr Horace Chang, because the St James Football Association, assisted by the JFF reached out to the political directorate and he answered the call," said Burrell.

"He travelled immediately to Jarrett Park, met all the officials on the field and decided that the facility has to be repaired and he immediately gave instructions to the management to commence work. Based on what I have heard, the changing rooms and so on will not be the same, they have been improved tremendously," Burrell added.

Regarding the FIFA course, 34 participants took part in the five-day seminar which was held under the guidance of FIFA instructor Colin Klass, who is also president of the Guyana Football Association.

Among the topics that were covered are finance management, marketing, planning, both strategic and business, statutes and club regulation, club management and communication.

Shelly-Ann Curran, senior sponsorship manager of Digicel, presented each participant with phones. She said her company was committed to helping with the development of football in Jamaica.