Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) General Secretary Dennis Chung is assuring the public that the lights at the National Stadium have been certified by the relevant authorities, and the Reggae Boyz’s Concacaf Nations League game against Cuba on Friday at 7 pm will not be affected.

The Reggae Boyz’s Concacaf World Cup Qualifying Group E match against the Dominican Republic originally scheduled for 6:30 pm on June 6 this year was moved to 3:30 pm due to the stadium’s lights not meeting Concacaf’s standard requirements.

However, Chung says that new lights were installed just before the Dominican Republic game in June and these lights have recently been tested, and they are now awaiting the relevant documents to submit to Concacaf.

“We got a preliminary report from Independence Park (IP), and it was fine, but we are just waiting on the official report from phase three, which is being done now,” Chung said.

“But the preliminary report that we did, which was an in-house report, showed that the lights were evenly distributed, and everything was over the 1,000 lumens that was required.

“We are just waiting on the official report because that is what Concacaf wants, and I suspect that might be done by now. As long as we submit it before the game on Friday, then all should be well, and everything should be okay.”

Chung says the lights installed by IP exceed the required standards, so he is confident they will receive clearance from Concacaf and that the match will proceed as scheduled on Friday.

“I don’t think what happened last time will happen again because the lights are above standard now, and it would have to be something else causing the problem,” he said. “But from what we see, everything is above standard, and it was after we sent the initial report that Concacaf confirmed the 7 pm time. A total of $75 million was released by the Ministry of Finance and Public Service for urgent remedial work at the stadium to address the lighting system. IP, which manages sport facilities at the stadium complex, has responsibility for the National Arena, National Indoor Sports Centre, National Aquatic Centre, and Stadium East.

Chung says the National Stadium’s playing surface had sustained some damage during the Independence Day celebrations which was held there, but he has been assured that the field will be in top condition for Friday.

He is also asking spectators to show up in large numbers and support the Reggae Boyz.

“The fans’ support is very important for the Reggae Boyz because we don’t want people to just talk as usual, we want people to come out and support,” he said.

“We want the stands to be filled. The new coach [Steve McClaren] is here, and remember, we still have a very exciting team. This team is one of the most successful Reggae Boyz teams, and we have some very exciting players. So we definitely want the support from everyone.”