‘All fair’

MONTEGO BAY United’s (MBU’s) disappointment over not having the day of their clash with defending Jamaica Premier League champions, Mount Pleasant, moved to today has been met with understanding, but disagreement from Professional Football Jamaica Ltd (PFJL).

Last week, MBU asked that a game between themselves and Mount Pleasant be moved from tomorrow to today, but were denied by the Jamaica Football Federation’s (JFF’s) competitions committee and it instead moved from a 7:30 p.m. start at the Catherine Hall Stadium to 3 p.m. at Wespow Park.

As it turns out, Catherine Hall is not yet ready to host night games, which would have made the fixture a part of the now-regular Monday Night Football programming.

The Monday night slot will now be completed by fixtures between Waterhouse and Humble Lion and Portmore United and Tivoli at 5 and 7:30 p.m., respectively. The game is slated for Stadium East.

According to MBU, they would have liked to take advantage of the tremendous home support the team received from a home outing against Cavalier they won 1-0.

It is approximated that 1,500 supporters were at the game.

However, with the game moved to a Monday at 3 p.m., MBU believe they will miss out on that support, given it is a workday.

According to a source close to the situation, the JFF’s competitions committee asked Mount Pleasant if they would be willing to play the game on Sunday. However, the defending champions displayed an unwillingness, given that they had a game on Thursday.

Given the circumstances around Mount Pleasant’s unwillingness, the competitions committee wanted to keep matters fair and so struck a compromise to move the game’s location and time to earlier on the same day.

The decision did not sit well with MBU.

“Given the state of the Catherine Hall Stadium and the fact that most fans will be working on a Monday at 3 p.m., we believe the request is more than reasonable. Yet, the JFF has mandated that the game be played on the scheduled day at 3 p.m. This decision is extremely disappointing and does nothing to support the Club’s and our sponsor’s efforts to develop the team and strengthen the football community in Montego Bay,” read a statement to the press, penned by co-owner and chairman of MBU, Yoni Epstein.

Another MBU home game was moved to Arnett Gardens because of a state of emergency in Montego Bay.

“ … at the end of the day, it’s the players and the fans who lose out,” said Epstein.

However, according to PFJL CEO Owen Hill, given the circumstances, no other decision could have been made, as painful as it must be for MBU.

“PFJL has always sought to maintain the integrity of the competition, and so does the JFF’s competitions committee,” said Hill.

“Although this must be painful for Montego Bay, I don’t believe the competitions committee could ignore all the other nuances of the situation,” Hill explained.

“Although the time is not convenient, we will still ensure an exciting and well-organised match on Monday, and ask that our supporters still come out to bolster the team as much as possible. Again, we are sorry for this inconvenience and promise to continue fighting for the rights of our club, so that we can ensure the best experience for our team, fans and sponsors,” said Epstein.