BURRELL... if we were forced to pay at this time, it would have been disastrous

London, England - The Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) was yesterday granted a further reprieve by The English Football Association (The FA) after its chairman, Sir David Treisman, agreed to defer consideration of the £135,000 debt until after the 2010 FIFA World Cup Finals in South Africa.

The near four-hour meeting between Sir Treisman; his head of international relations, Jane Bateman; JFF president Captain Horace Burrell; his general secretary Horace Reid, and the JFF's European advisor, Peter Hargitay, at The FA's headquarters at Soho Square, also resolved to further expand on a proposal put forward by the Jamaican governing body to convert the debt into equity for a youth development facility.

"I feel I have come to the end of the meeting in very good heart," Sir Treisman told the Observer later yesterday.

He added: "The spirit of the meeting was very good. We have been very correct and detailed in knowing what the facts were. I think we've had an extremely honest discussion, which is invaluable."

Sir Treisman noted that the JFF acknowledged the outstanding debt of approximately £135,000 to The FA, arising from a friendly match played at Old Trafford on June 3, 2006.

"Having heard about all the circumstances, The FA agreed to defer consideration of the debt until after the 2010 World Cup," revealed Sir Treisman, who added that "the JFF also provided details of a youth development facility that was first discussed in principle with representatives of The FA earlier this year. The two parties agreed to further expand on these talks".

Sir Treisman also offered his careful consideration to the project.

"This proposal is intended to be aligned with The FA's International Development Programme and longstanding relationship with the Caribbean region," he said, though warning that the proposal would need FA Board approval in order to proceed.

Sir Treisman admitted that he hasn't yet seen the proposal, but "I am going to view it in due course, and on the basis of seeing it I think we should be able to continue work which has started and I will get the chance to make my contribution to that work and if it's at all possible, I would do what we always do in these circumstances, which would be to put our case to The FA Board for their consideration".

"I think that from everything that I've heard from my colleagues, the proposal should fit into the International Development Programme that we have been running for nine years now, so hopefully it will fit well into that," he said.
Burrell, whose one-year administration inherited the debt from the previous JFF administration, was grateful to The FA for its understanding.

"It has allowed me to breathe a sigh of relief, because if we were forced to pay this debt at this time, it would have been a disaster to our football programmes, so I want to record my gratitude to Sir Treisman and The FA for their understanding," he said.

"With all factors considered I am satisfied with the approach taken by The FA. It was very important for us to have direct dialogue with the new administration because Jamaica would have found itself in a more embarrassing situation in light of the fact that with a new administration we would have been called on to pay this debt.

"So serious was this situation that it was reported to FIFA, which could have had consequences if we failed to pay. So I want to take this opportunity to thank Peter Hargitay, our European advisor, who quickly arranged a face-to-face meeting with the chairman of The FA to discuss this matter in details."

But having twice before met with Simon Johnson, The FA's director of Corporate Affairs, in Jamaica in March and again in England in April in an effort to find an amicable solution as well as to expedite the process of rebuilding the nation's integrity and reputation, Burrell turned his wrath on the previous Crenston Boxhill administration.

"I am very happy at the outcome because we have been given a lifeline, but it is to be remembered that this debt was incurred by the previous administration and members of that administration have been making spurious allegations that the JFF does not owe this debt, which is nothing short of dishonest, as based on the documents that we have and based on the documents that The FA has, the JFF owes approximately £135,000," he blasted.

"One of the proposals we have reached with Simon Johnson of The FA earlier this year, was that the debt would be converted to equity to aid in the development of a training centre.

"Following today's discussions, this proposal was thrown back into the mix and it could still become a reality in the future. The FA has expressed understanding with our current financial standing, including a debt inherited of over $100 million, and hence is willing to work with this administration in dealing with the situation," Burrell said.

... Female Artistes

Top 10 videos of 2008

Top 10 Artistes Off the Radar for 2008