KINGSTON, Jamaica — Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett has expressed deep sadness at the passing of President of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), Captain Horace Garfield Burrell.

“On behalf of all of us in tourism, I would like to offer my condolences to the family of Captain Burrell and offer our total support for the cause for which he stood and the legacy that he has left behind,” Bartlett said in a release this afternoon.The minister described Captain Burrell as an outstanding football administrator, entrepreneur and educator, who was a shining example to all Jamaicans.“Having worked with the St Elizabeth Technical High School, which happens to be my alma mater, developing a very successful manufacturing business in food products and becoming perhaps the Caribbean’s leading football administrator – he certainly has spun a web of success that has been a great example to all Jamaicans, particularly those from deep rural Jamaica,” said the minister.Bartlett also noted the influence Captain Burrell had in strengthening brand Jamaica across the globe through sports tourism, sharing that the stamp that he made on the global sporting scene remains indelible and Jamaica has benefited tremendously from that process.“He was very successful at fusing sports and music to create a brand that became iconic and separated Jamaica from the rest of the Caribbean. Indeed, the innovation and spirit he brought to football became contagious, causing other Caribbean teams to start branding their team names. So from ‘Reggae Boyz’, we started hearing about other team names such as the ‘Soca Warriors’,” said Bartlett.