NEW general secretary of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), Raymond Grant, concedes that the Reggae Boyz’s wretched per-formance at the just-concluded CFU Caribbean Championship in Antigua and Barbuda has “placed a dent” in the programme going forward.

Jamaica, the back-to-back defending champions and undisputed favourites entering the December 7-16 tournament, were eliminated at the preliminary stage after humiliating losses to French Guiana (2-1) and Cuba (1-0). The Boyz only managed a point in a goal-less draw with Martinique to finish at the bottom of the entire competition.

Cuba went on to win the championship by defeating Trinidad & Tobago, 1-0, in extra time at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Ground last week Sunday.

But to add insult to injury, not only did the results not favour Jamaica, the team played the worst football in the eight-nation competition — uncharacteristically lacking tactically shape, organisation, fitness and an apparent lack

of desire.

“While some will argue that Jamaica don’t have the given right to win a competition or even to advance, I guess one will agree that not advancing to the CONCACAF Gold Cup, and by extension, not advancing to the semi-finals of the Caribbean Championship, has placed a dent in our programme and also eroded some of the confidence,” Grant told the Jamaica Observer in an exclusive interview on Thursday.

He urged Jamaicans on the whole, and the private sector in particular, not to lose hope in the team as a process has been initiated to fix what has been broken.

“In the game of football when results are not favourable, then the adminis-trative and technical staff, along with the players, must work twice as hard to ensure that what is lost is rebuilt, and that’s the process that we are going through now.

“There’s a need for a level of introspection by all and, therefore, the levels of meetings that we have been having over the last week or so are part of the process to ensure that we rebuild the confidence of players, staff and the wider public,” Grant said.

In response to the fiasco, JFF President Captain Horace Burrell’s reaction was one of pain, and true to his style, he immediately sought to get to the bottom of the matter by ordering a technical review.

“The technical committee, which is charged with that responsibility, is currently compiling a report, and as soon as that report is complete, then the president will be given a copy and then he will take it from there to see if there is need for any form of re-enforcement for the technical staff, or there is no need, or to see if the technical staff is competent to take us forward,” noted Grant.

Burrell has since publicly stated that the job of head coach Theodore ‘Tappa’ Whitmore was safe, but hinted that action could be taken against others along the technical ranks. Still, any decision will hinge on the outcome of the Technical and Development Committee review process that is said to

be ongoing.

Meanwhile, Grant said

the JFF is continuously looking at ways to improve its operations across all its planks, but the process is sometimes hampered by an abrasive economic reality.

“Administratively, there is need for improvement in terms of the injection of added personnel within the marketing department, our referees department, and the finance department needs a bit of strengthening also.

“But while these are added ingredients that are needed in the administrative arm of the federation, the financial climate does not lend itself for us to make such inclusion at this time,” he noted.

With a huge debt and a severe cash flow problem, the JFF over recent years has had to make drastic staff rationalisation decisions that has seen the organisation functioning with a skeletal staff, with many of the

workers volunteers.

“I believe it’s an excellent staff; a very committed one and one which I am committed to work with for the greater

good of the sport,” ended Grant, who holds a bachelor of science degree in engineering

and management.