THOUGH of two minds regarding the cancellation of the Red Stripe Premier League (RSPL) by the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) earlier this month, Reggae Boyz playmaker Peter-Lee Vassell is of the view that the country’s governing body did what it had to do in the best interest of everyone.

JFF President Michael Ricketts announced on May 15 that all football in the island, including the RSPL, would be discontinued – with the top club competition being declared “null and void”.

The decision has not been universally accepted, with a number of clubs from the Western Confederation Super League, Premier League Clubs Association (PLCA) executive Carvell Stewart, and former JFF president and current Los Perfectos boss Anthony James among those saying the decision was premature.

Vassell, who played for Harbour View Football Club before spending a year with Los Angeles Football Club in Major League Soccer, said the JFF had to do what was best at the time, though he speculated that they could have “panicked” and probably should have waited a bit longer before taking a decision.

“I think the JFF, because of the situation, can only do what they think is the best for everyone, not just themselves,” he pointed out.

Vassell added: “But I think there could have been a plan where they could sit and wait and see what would happen, as now we see a lot of teams overseas have returned to training and things could have worked out. Now we see things have calmed down a bit, but in that time there was some panic and a lot of decisions were made that maybe should not have been made, and that is just a part of life and they do what they think was best at the time.”

Waterhouse Football Club led the RSPL at the time of the stoppage with 29 rounds of matches played and securing 54 points, one more than Mount Pleasant Football Academy, while defending champions Portmore United and Humble Lion tied for third on 46 points, with Tivoli Gardens FC and Dunbeholden FC completing the play-off spots.

— Paul Reid