With years of challenges regarding international travel for national teams, Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) President Michael Ricketts says he’s optimistic they’ll be able to secure an airline sponsorship in the coming months.

The Jamaica Observer was told that air travel is one of the federation’s biggest expenses, with a national team trip costing in excess of $10 million.

Ricketts told the Observer that a potential partnership is in the pipeline to ease the burden that comes with international travel.

“We are very hopeful; it’s in the very embryonic stage. We would have engaged an international marketing company in that regard and are working on that. The last discussion we had, they did mention they were having discussions with a major airline company but like I said, we’re still in very early stages but it’s something that would excite us and make life so much easier for us,” he said.

For years, players and staff of the Reggae Boyz and Reggae Girlz teams have expressed dissatisfaction with the JFF’s overseas travel arrangements, including complaints regarding which class they are seated in and discomfort associated with connecting flights.

Earlier this year, Aston Villa forward Leon Bailey, in a viral interview, was critical of the JFF’s flight arrangements.

In 2022, the national senior men’s team, in effect, forced the resignation of former General Secretary Dalton Wint after being stranded in Suriname following a Concacaf Nations League game.

That same year, the JFF apologised to the women’s national players who had only recently qualified for their second World Cup, after a credit card given to them to cover travel expenses had no funds.

The sports ministry and other entities have had to intervene with travel issues in recent years.

The JFF previously had an over decade-long multimillion-dollar partnership with the now defunct Air Jamaica which ended after the 2010 World Cup Qualifying campaign.

The local football governing body had a $36-million three-year deal with Caribbean Airlines which began in 2018.

Ricketts, in his seventh year in charge of the federation, says they’ve encountered fewer problems since bringing an expert on board.

“That has always been a challenge and more so when we had the (COVID-19) pandemic; that would have really caused us a lot of pain. But we seem to have put things in place. We have a project manager here now that’s responsible for making all flight arrangements and so far, he’s been doing an excellent job so we want to continue that,” he said.

While admitting things may not always be perfect, Ricketts says they’re making a greater effort to be more efficient.

“Sometimes things happen that we have no control over but we must, as best as possible, ensure we get things right as many times as we can. I keep on saying we’re not infallible, we’re prone to making mistakes but what we must ensure is we do not make the same mistakes, over and over.”

The national senior men’s and women’s teams as well as youth teams, including the men’s Under-17s, are expected to have a busy schedule in 2025 as they seek to qualify for respective World Cups.

RICKETTS… what we must ensure is we do not make the same mistakes over and over (Photo: Joseph Wellington)