JASFORD Gabriel, principal of Manchester High School, has levelled accusations of bias which he believes has given “clear advantages” to St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) in the Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA)/Wata daCosta Cup football competition.

Manchester High and STETHS, both runners-up in their respective preliminary zones, drew 0-0 in the round-of-32 game played at STETHS Sports Complex on October 19.

He argues that STETHS, whose principal is ISSA President Keith Wellington, were among three runners-up from the first round that got two home games in the second round.

St James-based Maldon High, the runners-up in Zone A, had two games at Jarrett Park in Montego Bay while St Thomas-based Paul Bogle High, the runners-up in Zone L, also hosted two in the round of 32 at York Oval.

Taking a dig at perceived lack of transparency on ISSA’s part, he questioned why Zone E round-of-16 qualifiers, including STETHS, did not face any team from Clarendon, a parish which in recent times has produced some of the stronger daCosta Cup contenders.

Gabriel asked: “Would any well-reasoned individual dismiss all these as coincidences?”

He continued: “What was the process that led to the qualifiers from Zone E, including the school led by the president of ISSA, ending up in such an advantageous position?

“It must be of concern that higher-ranked teams from the previous ranking exercise did not enjoy the same privilege,” the Manchester High principal said.

Up to press time on Wednesday, efforts by the Jamaica Observer to contact ISSA coordinator for football Ewan Scott were not successful.

Gabriel, who as head of a high school is a member of the ISSA, said he felt he had no other recourse but to go public, after his efforts to address the matter privately were rebuffed.

“Having identified what appeared to be quite obviously an unfair strategising to secure priority treatment for Zone E qualifiers to the round of 32, I engaged the key players in conversations as early as October 14, 2024 with a view to address said concern,” his widely circulated letter said. “Despite efforts made by the daCosta Cup Chairman [Linvern Wright], who assured me he would have addressed the matter, no change was made to the groupings. “This was not surprising to me as the ISSA president indicated to me prior that no change will be made, regardless of my observations,” the letter also said.

STETHS ended the preliminary stage with back-to-back home games, beating Newell High 6-0 and Zone E winners Munro College 2-1.

STETHS also played their first two games in the round of 32 at home, beating William Knibb Memorial 2-0, and drawing with Manchester High. They beat Manning’s School 3-0 in Savanna-la-Mar on Tuesday to book a place in the round of 16.

“It is important to note that it is stated explicitly in the competition manual that, ‘ISSA reserves the right to change the order, times or venues of the matches,’ ” Gabriel pointed out in the letter. However, he told the Observer on Wednesday that all teams must get a “level playing field”.