Although there’s increasing demand for the Jamaica Football Federation’s (JFF’s) general secretary role, President Michael Ricketts says a decision is likely to be made next year in order to prevent any distraction from the Reggae Boyz’s World Cup Qualifying campaign.

The permanent general secretary position, seen as the second-highest role in local football’s governing body, was made vacant at the end of last month following the sudden resignation of Dennis Chung, who served for close to three years.

JFF General Manager Roy Simpson has been serving in the role on an interim basis since the beginning of June.

However, there appears to be no immediate urgency to fill the position permanently, with Ricketts telling the Jamaica Observer that securing qualification for next year’s FIFA World Cup remains the top priority.

“The consensus amongst stakeholders at the JFF is that we do not do anything that will be potentially disruptive, so probably we want to go until the end of the qualifiers because we just want to have smooth path leading to the World Cup Qualification,” he said.

“Hopefully, after the World Cup Qualification, we can look at advertising the post and then doing some interviews and, of course, selecting the right person.”

The Observer has learnt that several individuals have reached out to the JFF since Chung’s resignation in May. It’s said that these individuals include former JFF employees as well as prominent sports and business executives from the region.

While not confirming any names, Ricketts says the organisation wants to select the ideal candidate for such an important position.

“There are a number of persons that are giving indications that they’d be interested in becoming GS (general secretary), but we haven’t formally opened up for applications. I’m thinking of a process of setting up interviewing panel and then of course, advertise for applicants,” he said.

“We want to make it very transparent so we really get the best candidate. There are persons who would have written to me expressing a desire, informally, to become gen sec but we aren’t even ready for applicants and applications,” Ricketts added.

The Observer understands that strong consideration will be given to current interim Simpson if he expresses interest to stay on long-term. Simpson is one of the most respected members of the JFF due to his near-two decade history with the men’s team as team manager.

Since 2008, he’s overseen consecutive Concacaf Gold Cup final appearances in 2015 and 2017, Caribbean Cup titles in 2010 and 2014 as well as qualification of the Reggae Boyz for the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2011.

The last time the JFF was in search of a permanent general secretary was in 2022 when Dalton Wint resigned in June of that year following the national senior men’s team refusing to play if he continued.

Chung was subsequently hired five months later.