Many likely candidates as search for Wint’s successor takes centre stage
With the expected resignation of Dalton Wint from the high-profile general secretary position at the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), a number of names have emerged as his possible replacement.
But before all that can be looked at, the JFF has found itself between a rock and a hard place as up to this point, Wint has not officially resigned and firing him could be very costly to a cash-strapped organisation. It is believed it could cost the JFF approximately $7 million, the sum left on Wint’s contract.
The general secretary functions like a CEO and works closely with the president, the vice-president and the board of directors, in consultation with its members and key stakeholders.
The high-profile role is to ensure that Jamaica’s football is a strong organisation driven by a focused and shared vision. The general secretary should embody the value of the organisation and serves as an advocate and spokesperson with the corporate sector, all levels of government and the football community.
With that said, several former general secretaries names have been bandied about including Horace Reid, Burchell Gibson and Raymond Grant as to who could return to the fold.
The astute Reid, who is Concacaf’s director of Caribbean Football, has, on a number of occasions, distanced himself from making a return to the JFF, so it is unlikely that Reid would give up a clearly bettered paid position at sub-continental level to return to fill the void.
Gibson did a decent job under a JFF at that time that most of the present members had opposed badly hence it would be difficult for him to return.
The smooth-talking Grant was a picture of confidence during his tenure as general secretary and rarely faced criticism as he went about his business in a professional manner. He could be a good stop-gap choice until the JFF sort themselves out.
A former JFF board member, who wanted to remain anonymous, said the JFF is under transition and, therefore, it would be difficult for any one person to come in a fix the problem.
“The failure is not Wint alone. The person who is to replace Wint in the same system will not take football to where it needs to be. It’s a complicated situation,” said the Observer source.
The suggestion is to elevate someone from within the JFF and Janice Rose-Brown was said to be a perfect temporary fix as “she could easily step in as she does all the work anyways and then prepares the organisation for election”.
Then there are several administrators that have worked within the JFF and some who have moved on to work with Concacaf and even the European governing body UEFA who could be viable candidates.
Pat Garel has been a long-serving administrator of football and her name was mentioned as is the current general secretary of the powerful Kingston and St Andrew Football Association (KSAFA) Dwayne Dillion.
Dillon is young, spritely and intelligent ,but he would certainly be overlooked because he is one of those that had set the fire under the ruling JFF for their shortcomings over the years. He could be one to groom.
Latoya DaCosta, who worked with the JFF, but is currently with Concacaf, has all the skill sets of running an efficient organisation as she has learned from arguably the best general secretary this country has ever seen in Horace Reid.
But once again it would be extremely difficult to ask her to quit her position with Concacaf for an ailing organization at this time.
In Switzerland, there is Rachid Hall, who was recommended by a top JFF administrator years ago following some outstanding work while heading the University of the West Indies sports department.
He was never approached and went off to greener pasture, where is now working for one of the most powerful organisations in world football – UEFA – the European governing body for football. What a miss by the JFF, but he is one brilliant young mind who would fit seamlessly into that position.
He, too, had said in a previous Observer interview that he was never approached by the JFF for the general secretary job after he came highly recommended, so it would be difficult to ask him to come home under the existing conditions.
Locally, more names keep popping up, among them Dale Spencer, the former JFF first vice-president, and Christopher Williams, the chairman of the Premier League Clubs Association.
Both men are worthy, but it is said they are more worthy in a higher position of that of general secretary and more suited for the presidency.
There are also two local coaches with a wealth of experience throughout football in Rudolph Speid of Cavalier and Andrew Price of Humble Lion.
Speid is said to be very versatile and could fit into any position at the JFF, especially with his accounting background and is a former president of the Kingston and St Andrew Football Association.
Price, on the other hand, was the former sponsorship manager at J Wray & Nephew when the company sponsored the Premier League and he has the corporate clout needed.
He is bright, and has the technical ability to can communicate with the players and fellow coaches.
He is a top-class marketer but he too fell out of favour with the current JFF when an e-mail was leaked with him expressing his feelings toward the JFF. A lot of things would have to be changed for him to be offered that position.