WITH myriad issues plaguing Jamaica Women’s Premier League (JWPL), Professional Football Jamaica Limited Chairman Chris Williams says PFJL will be looking to take control of the league in the near future.

JWPL was launched on February 13, with 11 teams expected to participate. However two weeks into the competition only seven sides are now competing in the league, due to several factors.

Vere United were expelled from the league after failing to show for their opening two games, for which they were fined $50,000.

A day before the February 17 start date, the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) announced that Royal Lakes and Rangers FC would no longer take part in the league.

The Jamaica Observer understands that Royal Lakes withdrew their participation 48 hours before the start due to financial reasons, while a key member of the Rangers FC management team was ill.

Waterhouse were hoping to participate in the league but the Observer learnt that they missed the initial registration deadline and were not accepted by the Jamaica Football Federation’s Competitions Committee despite an appeal.

PFJL recently signed a new memorandum of understanding (MOU) with JFF, extending their oversight of the Jamaica Premier League for the next 10 years, but Williams says he and his team are also interested in the women’s top flight.

“We have requested a meeting with the JFF to negotiate an MOU relating to women’s football so yes, we’re going into those negotiations as soon as [this] week and we will see how those negotiations pan out. I’m very excited about women’s football; I think the women are more talented than the men,” he joked. “But, we look forward to it. The president and I are to meet and we will see how the negotiations go,” Williams told the Observer.

He says women’s football is an important part of the ‘football ecosystem’ and wants to help them reach further.

“Personally, I think that the first step in women’s football should be capacity bulding as opposed to a league. As you can see, teams fell out and it’s a challenge to get capacity; we just don’t have enough women to run a league. I haven’t discussed this with the JFF as yet but my personal focus would be to do capacity building first and then roll into a WJPL. A WJPL pulls a lot of resources away from the clubs, and it’s very hard on the clubs and they just don’t have the resources to do it. Capacity building is a lot cheaper and, frankly, you can’t do a solid league without a solid capacity,” said Williams.

JFF President Michael Ricketts says he would have no issues with PFJL running the women’s league.

“Absolutely. They have the track record and we must, as part of our legacy programme, ensure we have a proper women’s programme so we will definitely be having some discussions with Chris and his team in that regard,” Ricketts said.

JFF’s Women’s Committee Chairperson Elaine Walker-Brown was unavailable for comment but previously had expressed agreement with Williams and the PFJL coming on board.

The Jamaica Women’s Premier League returned for a second year after being inactive for three years due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The league has also suffered from a lack of sponsorship but the JFF announced the return of Sherwin Williams as sponsors for this season’s competition, after the manufacturing giants ended their 11-year relationship in 2015.