Football goes through revamp at the top

DESPITE THE many gaffes and issues surrounding the men’s and women’s teams, the Jamaica Football Federation’s (JFF) decision to increase the number of voting delegates was certainly the most prominent change the organisation went through this year.

In 2007, late former president Horace Burrell reduced the number of voting delegates from 103 to 13, to the discontent of many stakeholders.

The federation’s decision to increase the number to 56 in December has been greeted with satisfaction by most.

Another significant change was the reduction in the number of directors from 19 to 11. The four confederations chairpersons, the JFF president, his four vice presidents and two co-opted members will now make up the Board of Directors.

Before, the co-opted members were not able to vote.

The resignation of general secretary Dalton Wint was also significant in 2022.

Wint had been JFF president, Michael Ricketts’, right-hand man since he came to office in 2017. But his tenure had been marred by instances of seeming incompetence.

In June, during an international game in Suriname, after one too many travel arrangement blunders, the players called for his resignation.

However, the separation dragged on for longer than expected and it was not until October before Wint was replaced by Dennis Chung.

The Kingston and St Andrew Football Association (KSAFA) also had a major change at the top following the resignation of Wayne Shaw as president in November.

Shaw, president since 2017, walked away for personal reason. He was replaced by former Brown’s Town president Mark Bennett.

The Professional Football Jamaica Limited (PFJL) also made changes to its structure, adding to its operations with the hire of a chief executive officer in the form of former University of the West Indies Jamaica Premier League player, Owen Hill.

Hill’s role is to take on the day-to-day operations of the league and drive its commercial viability.