Raymond Anderson, a former vice-president of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), says the organisation must take full responsibility, rather than placing blame solely on newly appointed Technical Advisor Rudolph Speid, if the national senior men’s team fails to qualify for next year’s FIFA World Cup.

Speid, who is also the current chairman of the JFF’s Technical Committee, was named on Wednesday as a technical advisor to the Steve McClaren-led coaching staff ahead of the final round of Concacaf World Cup Qualifiers which kicks off next month.

Anderson told the Jamaica Observer that any failure in the campaign must be seen as a collective one by the JFF leadership.

“I wouldn’t just say Speid, because Speid must be appointed by somebody or by a committee. So if McClaren fails, then the entire JFF fails,” he said.

“So if you want to put it down and follow the chain of command, where Speid is the technical committee chairman and now a technical advisor to McClaren, he also will be a part of the failing team.”

Anderson, who lost to JFF President Michael Ricketts 39-17 in last year’s presidential election, added that the decision to shift Speid from a policymaking role into a direct technical one makes him and those who appointed him equally accountable.

“If you want to compound some more on it, let’s just look at it as a business. If you have a board appoint a committee or an advisory committee and the advisory committee, in their wisdom, takes the chairman out of it and asks the chairman to closely supervise a section of the business and that business fails, then that person is also a failure,” he stated.

“Because if you are the advisor, then you chose to leave the policy side of your responsibility and go do the actual work. So if McClaren and the Technical Committee fail, and I hope to God that doesn’t happen, they will have to take responsibility also. Because it can’t be either or either; it has to be a group of people,” Anderson said.

“Yes, I believe that the committee, the board, [would have failed], because they made the decision, not Speid. Because Speid is just one of the persons out of a group of people.”

It is understood that before accepting the role of technical advisor, there were discussions to offer an assistant coach role to Speid, which he rejected. While that appointment would have raised even louder concerns about a possible conflict of interest considering the coach’s roles at Cavalier and the JFF’s Technical Committee, there are still whispers of discontent with his advisory appointment.

Veteran sports administrator Michael Hall has expressed concern about Speid’s new role and the implications it could have if the team falls short.

“I would suggest that ultimately the buck stops with the head coach, but if he has a staff that works with him and in particular someone who is specifically appointed based on his quote-unquote knowledge of all of the opponents that we are going to face in the final phase of the qualification, then you wouldn’t be able to point the finger only at the head coach,” Hall said.

“You will have to point fingers at his staff as well, particularly at Mr Speid, who is coming on board specifically based on his expertise on our opponents and based on what is being said, that he will be the push that we need to ensure that we qualify. So, absolutely, he would have to be considered part of that failure,” he said.

Hall also questioned whether Speid’s role as technical advisor, while still chairing the Technical Committee, could represent a conflict of interest.

“Mr Speid is the Technical Committee chairman as part of the Jamaica Football Federation, which would have been the committee that conducted the search for a new head coach and then recommended the appointment of McClaren. If we go all the way back to there, the committee that he leads, you could look at them and say you didn’t get it right when you appointed McClaren, because he hasn’t been able to get the job done,” Hall said.

“I am a little concerned about Mr Speid’s appointment and the whole question of whether it represents a conflict of interest. I mean, in my mind it does. And it doesn’t matter how many times the federation says it is not a conflict of interest because it is not a paid position, I don’t buy that, I think it is a conflict of interest.”

Jamaica’s final round of Concacaf World Cup qualifying will begin with an away match against Bermuda on September 5, followed by a home clash with Trinidad and Tobago on September 9. The group is completed by Curacao. Only the group winner will secure an automatic spot at the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

ANDERSON…I wouldn’t just say Speid, because Speid must be appointed by somebody or by a committee. So if McClaren fails, then the entire JFF fails.

HALL…I am a little concerned about Mr Speid’s appointment and the whole question of whether it represents a conflict of interest.

Reggae Boyz Head Coach Steve McClaren (right) issues instructions to members of Jamaica’s national senior team during a training session at the National Stadium on September 5, 2024 ahead of the team’s Concacaf Nations League match against Cuba. (Photo: Garfield Robinson)

Rudolph Speid (Photo: Garfield Robinson)