Former national senior women’s football team head coach Charles Edwards says Head Coach Hubert Busby should be given a fair chance by the public in light of recent controversies involving him.

On Friday afternoon, the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) announced that it has reappointed Busby ahead of the Reggae Girlz’s upcoming international friendly matches against hosts Brazil in June.

Previous interim Head Coach Xavier Gilbert returns to the role as assistant.

Busby previously served as an interim head coach in 2020 in a failed Olympic Games qualifying campaign but was relieved of duties in 2021 because of a JFF-requested FIFA investigation for sexual misconduct. This related to his time as head coach at Vancouver Whitecaps’ women’s team in Canada between 2010 and 2011.

Busby was however cleared of any wrongdoing by FIFA, allowing him the chance to return to the national programme.

“If FIFA has cleared him, then you’re not guilty until proven guilty,” Edwards told the
Jamaica Observer. “So, we all have to drop all the negativity and allow Busby to get back into his role and do his job because we can’t be judge and juror of all of this.”

Although Busby was seen at Reggae Girlz’s training camps and matches late last year, leading to speculation that he had been rehired by the JFF, he denied this, saying, “I was assisting in an advisory capacity, but nothing formal.”

Gilbert was then appointed.

Edwards says he hopes Busby will bring stability to the national women’s programme, which has endured many high-profile controversies recently.

Jamaica midfielder Solai Washington (2nd right) fights for the ball with Brazil’ defender Rafaelle (right) during the Women’s World Cup Group F match at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, also known as AAMI Park, in Australia, on August 2, 2023. (Photo: AFP)

Many first-team players, who also represented Jamaica at FIFA Women’s World Cups, were suspended indefinitely last year for publicly raising grievances with the JFF and its handling of team affairs. This followed shortly after Lorne Donaldson, who, as head coach, led the team to the 2023 World Cup, being released after his contract expired.

“What augurs well for Busby is that he has been around the girls for a long time and they know him well,” Edwards said. “He has worked well and created all these great relationships with them. Let’s hope that he can talk with them and get them back.

“My only problem now is he worked very well with Cedella Marley [former team benefactor], who’s now out of the programme. What will his relationship be like with the JFF? Will he have the hiccups like Donaldson and Hue Menzies [another former head coach] had with their first tenure with the JFF and their money issues?”

Edwards says he hopes the JFF will put a proper structure in place to support Busby, but also wants Busby to discuss a plan to allow more opportunities for women playing domestically to gain national selection. He cites Reggae Girlz captain and Manchester City striker Khadija Shaw, and Florida State Seminoles’ Jody Brown as two products of local women’s football who have done well internationally.

But Edwards expects challenges for Busby with backlash from fans and corporate bodies regarding his return.

“The public is always going to judge him; they’re always going to crucify him, one way or the other,” Edwards said. “I hope that he’ll be bigger than that and find some way of proving himself to be worthy and notably in terms of stepping forward with the programme. We don’t have the sponsorship; we need the support. We don’t have the Bob Marley Foundation anymore.”

Edwards says Busby will have some damage control to do, but warns that he must be careful about how he approaches it. He suggests Busby works with public relations experts.

EDWARDS…If FIFA has cleared him, then you’re not guilty until proven guilty

“As to which way is the best way to do it, I’m not sure,” Edwards said. “I’ve never had to deal with a situation like this and I don’t want to jump and say it should be this way or that way, but it will be a challenge and something has to be done. You don’t want him to try to address it and say the wrong things. That could be a problem. He needs to sit with people who are [brand and image] experts and take their advice as to how he goes about doing this damage control.”

Edwards, also notable for coaching Barbican Women’s FC, to over a decade of consecutive league titles, says coaches must be careful about how they interact with their players, to protect their reputations and careers.

“From the moment that young lady from the Whitecaps came forward with the accusations, it created a lot of damage,” he said. “This is something that women’s sports have been fighting for years. I don’t like it, and I don’t appreciate it. I have a track record for all these years and I’ve been clean. These players are like my daughters. I have utmost respect for them and I love them. I’ve never had players one-on-one in any quiet area. It must always be open to all eyes, full stop.

“There’s a boundary and you don’t allow players to overstep it. Sometimes, when you get too familiar and allow them to step over the line, and they don’t like something, they could accuse you and damage your career. There’s that line you have to draw and maintain.”

The JFF says that Busby returned after what it describes as “careful consideration and due process”.

“Based on his vast experience and knowledge of the squad, we think he is the perfect individual to take the team through the next stage of its development,” the body said in a press release on Friday.

Busby was the Reggae Girlz’s goalkeeping coach during their campaign to and at the 2019 World Cup in France. Menzies was the head coach during this period, and Donaldson the assistant.

The JFF also named its 23-member squad for the games against Brazil on June 1 and 4. Eighteen 2023 World Cup squad members were called, but Shaw is missing because of injury.