NPL clubs restive

• But PLCA assures title sponsor 'coming soon' to ease financial burden

André Lowe, Senior Staff Reporter

The current lack of a title sponsor for the National Premier League (NPL) is said to be causing growing discontent among several participating clubs.

However, with a massive sponsorship deal expected to be announced in a day or two, at least one insider is calling for calm.

Whispers that some clubs were suggesting a postponement of the league after the end of the first round reached The Gleaner's North Street offices early yesterday, with some clubs growing increasingly weary of having to fend for themselves due to the unavailability of major sponsorship dollars.

With Digicel as its title sponsor for the past three years, participating clubs were given almost $6 million per year to assist with expenses throughout the season.

That title sponsorship, of course, expired at the end of the last season and the PLCA has been knocking at several doors since, especially after another telecommunications company, LIME, pulled out at the last minute.

Now, after eight set of matches already in the books and still no word of atitle sponsor, clubs have become restive. But deputy chairman of the PLCA, Carvel Stewart, is calling for patience.

"Clubs are used to the support when the previous sponsorship was in place but, of course, there is currently no title sponsorship in place. But they just have to be patient because it is coming and coming, sooner than they think," said Stewart, without giving details of the impending deal.

According to other well-placed sources, the PLCA will be announcing a deal with a major beverage company, Red Stripe which is said to be of greater value than its previous arrangement, which brought over $300 million into the league over the last three years.

A deal was reportedly signed last Tuesday without the knowledge of the collective club leadership because of confidentiality matters and a need to protect the negotiations.

Stewart offered: "The PLCA has, since we took over the administration of the league, tried to and has increased the amount of sponsorship funds that go to the clubs. That will happen this year, it's only a matter of timing."

Stewart, who is also the president at Harbour View Football Club (HVFC), underlined his belief that the onus is always on club administrators to ensure that they are able to fulfil their obligations in a competition before entering it.

"You take on a responsibility when you decide that you want to participate in the league, and it is incumbent on all of us to look at what it requires to participate and do what must be done to ensure that we can in fact participate.

"You cannot start the league knowing what it takes to participate and then even think to stop midway the competition," he noted. "None of us have it easy, do we allow obstacles to prevent us or do we work and see how we can overcome?"

It has been reported to take up to $20 million per year to participate in the league, meaning that clubs have been responsible for finding at least $14 million of that amount in the past three seasons, taking into consideration the near $6 million that was largely financed through the title sponsor.

The soon-to-be-announced title sponsorship deal has actually been on the cards for a while but hit a snag a few weeks ago when certain entitlement issues were discussed.

Among the league's current sponsors are Jamaica National, Jamaica Public Service Company Limited and Supreme Ventures Limited, which share shirt sponsorship privileges for the 12-team competition. Other brands associated with the PLCA include Wata, Fruta and Powerade.