READY FOR GROWTH
Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) presidential candidate Raymond Anderson says he intends to lead an administration based on accountability and transparency should he be successful in his campaign.
Anderson recently announced his candidacy, with an election due this November. He and his campaign team, including former Cricket West Indies President Dave Cameron, Marketing Strategist Dr Cecile Dennis, Kingston and St Andrew Football Association President Mark Bennett, met with the Jamaica Observer on Sunday to share their plans ahead of the election.
St Thomas Football Association President Wayne Thompson is also a member of the team but was unavailable for the discussion.
Anderson says he has given thought to being JFF President for some time and decided to challenge incumbent Michael Ricketts when the federation’s constitutional reform last year meant a change to the number of delegates allowed to vote in this election.
This change saw an increase in delegates from 13, which consisted then just of parish confederation presidents, to 56, to include more stakeholders.
“I’ve been in the JFF boardroom for over 35 years,” Anderson said. “I served well and served as a vice-president for more than 19 years. I’ve served at least six presidents. During that time, I moved from third to first vice-president. The experience that I gathered over that time and the ups and downs I saw in the JFF, if I put up myself for leadership, there’s the possibility that I can assist in changes that the JFF needs in 2023.
“When I look at what’s been going on over the time from 2023 going back to about six years, there’s the issue of growth — it’s very low. If you realise what football brings to the table, it’s not just a sport, it deals with various aspects of society, and it’s the people’s sport. So when the football is down, you can expect that the social impact that football is supposed to give to the country is down as well. I’m concerned with all of that and know that we from the football body can do a lot. That is why I am offering myself at this time.”
Dennis says this social impact must be one that enacts positive change.
“We recognise that sport in Jamaica is a sub-economy,” she said. “Football is at the top of that economy, but so far we have not realised its gains. There is absolutely no way you can separate crime and criminal activity and the involvement of young males in criminal economy. The team, in our discussion, believes that if football is structured in such a way that it reaches all areas, developing infrastructure out of town and so on, a whole economy can be generated out of football. We can have scholarships. The sport ministry has not awarded sport scholarships — that’s something that we have to look at in the role of the sport developing that part of the economy.”
Anderson, who serves as a vice-president in the current JFF administration, says his campaign will not attempt to distance himself from the shortcomings of the current administration. He says he acknowledges those shortcomings but sees a need to serve in a higher role to be able to enact the changes needed.
“I am not the leader, but I am a team player,” he said. “Even in this administration, the vice-president has oversight responsibilities. Mine is competitions and operations. Down that line, you can judge me on that and tell me where we have not shown some form of success in my area. This is the area I can speak strongly of around the boardroom. You have people dealing with finance, the technical development, and I will just be a supporting executive with that, but my role is where I sit around the table and say, ‘Gentlemen, there’s a game coming, get the skill sets around the table for us to ensure that we execute this game successfully.’
“Right throughout the pandemic, I am the person who led that team. You can tell me if we have not done something good to bring a return to football, not only at the international level but all football.”
Cameron backs this up by mentioning that Anderson likes to take responsibility for his input at the boardroom level.
“When you have arguments around the table he takes collective responsibility with whatever he’s done when he comes out of the room,” he said. “You’ll have heard him taking responsibility outside on behalf of the JFF as well, and that hasn’t changed.
“He’s sitting in there and saying a lot of things need to change, ‘And if I’m the leader, then I can bring a different team, a different set of structures and plans.’ “
Bennett questions whether the current JFF administration has the know-how to foster the development of football.
“This is the team that put the country under financial restriction,” he said. “FIFA is here, not because Jamaica invited it, FIFA came here to audit us. Are we going to entrust the leadership of Jamaican football to this same team for the next four years?
“All of Jamaica will get a chance to look at the team we have assembled, the plans we have developed, and the pillars that will guide our activities. We are going on faith, but we need that at this time. That team doesn’t have a plan or an answer.”
Anderson says an official campaign manifesto, which will detail a 10-year plan for Jamaica’s football, will be released in due time, and his slate to form the JFF administration, should he win the election, is also being finalised. This he says will consist of seven elected board members and four from the region.