JAMAICA Premier League (JPL) football organisers say boosting the marketability of the competition is central to staging matches during the Christmas and new year festive period.

After a month’s break for the 2022 FIFA World Cup hosted in Qatar from November 20 to December 18, JPL action returned on December 25 and 26 as well as January 1 and 2.

Staging premier league matches during the Yuletide is not new to Jamaica, with the common argument being that providing a spectacle for club football-loving fans during the holiday season could attract revenue.

Conversely, there is the view that players and staff would much rather take the break to fully partake in the season’s festivities.

In leagues in many countries on the European mainland, winter break is forced due to the customary extreme cold and intense snow conditions.

However, the highly profitable Premier League in England does not pause during the period and, in fact, has a busy schedule with teams often playing as many as three games inside a week.

Owen Hill, chief executive officer of the Professional Football Jamaica Limited (PFJL), the entity which promotes and markets the JPL, wants stakeholders to “buy into the vision” of boosting the league’s revenue-earning capacity.

“The position of the PFJL has always been to try as best as possible to ensure that commercial viability is paramount,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

“Playing the games during the festive period, on the face of it, is sensible because you’d want to think that people are supportive of the sport in the country and if you market it as best as possible then you’d have people coming out to support.

“We just have to get the clubs, the players, the management [personnel] and executives to buy into the vision,” Hill said.

Hill noted that the interlude for the World Cup — which in previous cycles would be held in the summer during the traditional break for club football globally — has also been a factor for the 2022-23 JPL season which only started in October.

“Another thing we’re cognisant of is honouring the fixtures. We had an anomaly here — we had a window when there was no football being played as a result of the World Cup between November and December. As a result, we need to ensure that the games are played to catch a particular window for finishing,” he explained.

Andrew Price, the Humble Lions FC head coach, conceded that this time of year is always tricky for club football in Jamaica.

“It is always a difficult task to navigate the festive season with the Premier League. Jamaica has a culture for people to enjoy themselves and be festive at this time of the year. The holiday season is time for partying and eating well.

“Once the football fixtures are [set] then clubs just have to adhere to the fixtures. It is more an exercise of moral persuasion with the players to be disciplined and professional but it is always a difficult period to have football. The preference would be to not have games during the season,” he told the Observer.

“It is much easier for countries that have a more established football culture of playing games during the festive season, like in the United Kingdom,” Price added.

Ricardo Smith, an assistant coach at Dunbeholden FC, told the Observer the challenge is one clubs have to live with given the potential for commercial opportunities.

“It poses a problem year in, year out because the festive season is usually seen as time off or time for enjoyment, so players usually get distracted by the parties, food and also family gatherings.

“Some players usually miss quite a few training sessions during this period [in addition to] the few days the clubs usually give them for time off… some get distracted, lose fitness, and also return overweight — but it’s something we expect and have to deal with year in, year out,” he explained.

“Of course, the main positive is that a lot more people are available to support the games during this time so the gate receipts, I’m assuming, are usually better,” Smith noted.

Hill, who said he had a clear view of both sides of the argument, insisted that the move is for the “greater good”.

“Some of the players and coaches may not see this as a sensible move but we are trying to change that narrative. We’re trying to create a professional environment where the commercial viability of these games is of paramount importance. And if we are trying to change the culture, then these are some tough decisions that you have to make they may even be unpopular in some instances but these are decisions for the greater good,” said the PFJL CEO.