CHAIRMAN of the Westmoreland Referees Group (WRG) Jeffrey Reece says it is up to Westmoreland Football Association (WFA) President Everton Tomlinson to meet with them if they are to participate in the upcoming Major League competition.

Reece described comments attributed to Tomlinson about the referees group as “disrespectful and hurtful” and said he was “blowing things out of proportion”.

The impasse between both groups is centred around the decision by the WFA not to include the regular referees in their Under-15 competition, opting instead to use “volunteers”, but Reece said they were never approached.

“Mr Tomlinson is not speaking the truth,” an irate Reece told the Jamaica Observer Thursday. “He is pointing fingers and making accusations.”

Reece, who said “outside of football, Everton and I have a good relationship”, said comments made by the WFA president had caused members of the WRG to be mocked and laughed at in the streets of the town. “He is trying to diminish us in the eyes of the people.”

Tomlinson, who told the Observer he would welcome the meeting with the WRG, said, however, since the Under-15 league “is really only about development, it is not a promotion league and we are focusing on more than just football, we decided to use volunteers — former players, parents and a few retired referees — to officiate in the games”.

He said the money that they saved in referees’ fees was ploughed back into the teams.

A member of the WRG was heard on a sports broadcast saying that the WFA would have to use “the same people who are doing the games in the Under-15 for the Major League”, but Tomlinson said he was not averse to going outside the parish for officials if the local group refused to participate.

The Major League, Tomlinson said, was due to start in March, and he noted that the key to getting football in western Jamaica back on top was to improve things from the grass roots level.

“This competition is where we expect to find, not just the next football players but administrators, coaches, and even referees.”

Reece said with the retiring of former FIFA Assistant Referee Richard Washington, Westmoreland had nine active referees, “which is sufficient to the needs here, and if we need help we can always get referees from outside the parish from time to time”.