Former Fifa Referee Peter Prendergast has taken the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) and parish associations to task for what he believes is their blatant disregard for referees and the service they provide.

Prendergast’s views came after he took it upon himself, with the assistance of Mark Sullivan and the Private Sector Oragnisation of Jamaica (PSOJ), to provide care packages to over 60 of the 250 registered referees across eight parishes, who may have fell on hard times due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Prendergast, who is now a Fifa referee instructor, suggestions were made to the JFF and its Referee’s Department to put together the care packages, but no amount of interest was forthcoming.

That, he said, is an indication of the lack of care and unfair treatment meted out to referees, who are often seen as a liability rather than an asset by the country’s governing body of football and their affiliates.

“I am not exactly sure why the parish associations and the football federation don’t pay enough attention to the referees; I just don’t understand the reason why. Clubs are responsible for the players and they do what they have to do to look after their players.

“The football federation has the responsibility, as mandated by the Fifa statutes, to see to the welfare of the referees, so I don’t understand what is so difficult,” Prendergast told the Jamaica Observer shortly after dispatching the last of the care packages in St James and Trelawny on Saturday.

“Referees are seemingly taken as an expense on a competition because they don’t generate revenue — I was told that by a competition organiser once. But without the referees the game can’t play, so to see the referees as an expense and not give them the necessary courtesy or respect due and accepting them as a part of the game, is really unfortunate,” he added.

Prendergast, who said he has often been chided for acting as the mouthpiece for referees, used the term ‘One hand can’t clap’ to get his point across, as he believes those who have turned their backs on the officials now will be the same ones requiring their services when the pandemic ceases.

“It is said that why am I the one that is always talking for referees, but if I am the only one that is going to talk, then so let it be because it is not like I am running for office or seeking votes,” he said.

“Eighty per cent of the names on the (care package) list, I don’t know those referees, so I have nothing to gain from it. The fact is that I have served and I continue to serve in a different capacity and I am going to help where I can, and if my voice is the voice that has to be used to help to engage the powers that be, then that is the voice until I can’t speak anymore, and that is the truth,” Prendergast declared.

“Millions of dollars are owed to referees across the island by the different parish associations and the federation, so why not make the extra effort to find some money to pay the guys for the services they provided over the last year and years, now in the time of need? And then the Referee’s Department just sit down and nothing is being done… to push for the referees. I mean, this is money that is owed to them and they need it now more than ever, they have families like everyone else,” he said.

However, head of the JFF’s Referee’s Department Victor Stewart said otherwise, stating that Prendergast is just “trying to make them look bad”.

While acknowledging that Prendergast did in fact suggest the care package idea, Stewart informed the Observer that all monies owed to the referees by the JFF were paid in full upon receipt of the Fifa Emergency Fund.

“The JFF was outstanding to referees for some games done and I said to myself and other stakeholders, the JFF is obligated to pay the referees what they owe them, so it is better to pay them than to think about the care package. So, every cent that was owed to the referees was paid,” Stewart said.

“So if people are talking about the assistance that the JFF got from Fifa, that money was used to pay for outstanding match fees, and that was my biggest concern in the height of the pandemic, to see that every referee that was owed got paid and further to that, we submitted the names of referees to the Government, who promised care packages and we are awaiting word on that,” Stewart shared.

He said Prendergast did suggest to have something for the referees, but “he didn’t make any further commitment to us about his part and the fact is that JFF is not in a position to give to 250 referees, and that’s a reality”.

“So, I think it would be stupid for me to owe you $10 and I gave you $5 as a gift when I could just pay you. So, they paid off all the referees what they owed them, but we are still looking about the care packages,” Stewart said.

He also explained that concerns still linger about further impact on referees’ livelihoods, as uncertainty surrounds the restart of football, given the latest spike in COVID-19 cases in the island.

As such, he requested that parties interested in offering assistance should not hesitate to reach out to the JFF and his department in particular.

“Just tell us that you have this, that you can give the referees and then we can supply to the referees that are most needy. So, it is not that we are not caring, it is just that some people try to do things for their own self,” Stewart said.