DENNIS Chung, the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) general secretary, asserts they have been assured by Independence Park Limited (IPL) that the lighting system at the National Stadium has been significantly upgraded and that there will be no hiccups during the Reggae Boyz’s Concacaf Nations League match against Honduras on Monday.

The IPL, which operates the National Stadium facility, faced heavy criticism recently after the lights went out during international games.

Last month Cavalier FC’s Concacaf Caribbean Cup game against Haiti’s Real Hope was delayed by nearly 30 minutes when the light towers at the southern end of the stadium failed. The IPL later confirmed that it was an electrical issue that was resolved shortly thereafter.

A day after that incident the lights went out during Frazsiers Whip’s Concacaf Women’s Champions Cup club game against Tigres of Mexico. The match eventually proceeded.

“Given what has happened there is always a concern because the game is not just played at a national level, it is also televised internationally. Any hiccups like that will have devastating consequences and financial implications,” said Chung.

“I think because of that and due to what had happened, we have been in dialogue with the IPL. The person in charge of our operations and maintenance has gone down there and conducted a review of not only the lights but also the field. He said that the field is improving.

“He mentioned that it [the field] has been resting, and they assured him that some work has been done after the last incident and that the lights will be fine,” Chung pointed out.

Cavalier were fined by Concacaf after it was deemed that the lights were inadequate during their Champions League game against FC Cincinnati in February. The fine was said to have been be around US$10,000 ($1.5 million).

Chung emphasised that JFF could face a similar fate if the lights go out during Monday’s game against Honduras at the National Stadium.

“They [IPL] did some fixing and upgrading of the lighting system so we expect that it will be fine. They have told us that after the last game, when Frazsiers Whip played and the lights went out for several minutes, they would address the issue and upgrade the electrical system. I understand that has been done.

“I understand that the last game played there didn’t have any issues, and we are hoping for no problems because it would have significant consequences — not only for the game but also financially. We don’t want to get into that,” he said.

Meanwhile, Chung said ticket sales for Monday’s game have been progressing well.

“We expect to have more people at the game on Monday; we have seen an uptick in ticket sales. In fact, after the Nicaragua [away] game on Thursday we noticed a lot of people coming in to buy tickets. We will also be selling tickets physically at the JFF.”