Jamaica Gleaner
The Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) plans to run the National Premier League on a franchise basis and, consequentially, reduce the number of participating teams to 10 for the 2015-16 season.
This was outlined in a JFF release, which laid out the main decisions of its board of directors’ weekend strategic planning retreat “to chart the way forward for Jamaica’s football, in general, and the JFF in particular”.
The release said they used a process to ensure consensus on matters discussed and agreed.
“The main outcome of the retreat was a four-year strategic transformation plan to, among other things, significantly improve the senior men’s and women’s FIFA rankings by 2018,” the release continued.
The main strategic initiatives are:
1. Franchising of the National Premier League with 10 franchises allocated on an equitable islandwide basis to ensure access to high-quality football by players and fans right across the island. This is scheduled to be rolled out for the 2015-16 season. The retreat established a Franchise Committee, chaired by Gary Sinclair and tasked with the responsibility to pilot the transition, including the finalisation of criteria for the franchises.
2. Establishment of a second-tier national competition, which will include the parish champions.
3. Restructuring of the Board and Congress in alignment with international best practices and the requirements of FIFA. This will result in a substantial reduction in the size of the Board, making it more effective and efficient in driving the transformation of football. These proposed changes are to be put to an extraordinary Congress to be held later this year.
4. Rationalisation of the existing competition and club structure to concentrate the highest quality players throughout the country among a reduced number of clubs.
5. Expand opportunities for participation in football through structured recreational competitions.
6. Strengthening women’s football by requiring all parish associations to have at least one women’s competition.
7. Strengthening the managerial and administrative capacity of parish associations to better administer football in their respective jurisdictions.