Dear Editor,

Decisions made miles away from the field of play that affect the outcome of matches are necessary sometimes, but hindsight says arriving at a decision authenticated by the refereeing contingent, with some assistance from the video assistant referee, is the route FIFA and its affiliates prefer.

The Super Eagles from Nigeria, for a brief period, had speculated that a boardroom decision would have resulted in the expulsion of the Leopards of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) from the World Cup inter-confederation play-offs.

FIFA, however, to the utter dismay of the Eagles, ruled in favour of DRC, who last qualified as Zaire, 51 years ago, when host West Germany defeated Netherlands in the 1974 final.

The Leopards therefore maintain their seeded status as the African confederation’s representative as they patiently await the winner of the match between the Reggae Boyz of the Concacaf confederation and the Kagus of New Caledonia from the Oceania confederation.

The intriguing question that currently reverberates throughout Jamaica is whether the 70th-ranked Reggae Boyz can prevail against the 150th-ranked New Caledonia. It should be a walk in the park but no one knows with this unmotivated group of English players.

And if the Boyz do what their ranking demands and advance to do battle with the 58th-ranked Leopards, what happens then?

The stats and the records say a nation that could not overwhelm a country with a 12-point lower ranking in a duel at home will definitely come out on the losing end against the Africans away from home.

There is a self-imposed gulf that exists between the Reggae Boyz and the Leopards. Sebastien Desabre, DRC’s head coach from France, has been at the helm since 2022. Jamaica, on the other hand, has changed coaches four times over the same period.

Paul Hall (June 2021-September 2022), Hemir Hallgrimsson (September 2022-June 2024), Steve McClaren (July 2024-November 2025), and now Rudolph Speid since December 2025. Chaos on steroids is the only apt way to describe the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) programme, be it short or long term.

Because of the ranking disparity between New Caledonia and Jamaica, any rational thinker would be inclined to infer that the Reggae Boyz will advance to play against the DRC.

I, however, find it difficult to concur. Last December the DRC played a friendly with African qualifier Senegal. The game drew 1-1. At that time the JFF didn’t even know which players would be available to participate in the inter-confederation play-offs.

As my now-deceased mentor and big brother Winston Chung Fah would regularly say to his young charges, “He who fails to prepare is obviously preparing to fail.”

As far as qualifying for the 2026 World Cup is concerned, the ball is still round. Also, as far as the post-2026 future is concerned, Jamaica has access to the most competent, patriotic, and qualified Jamaican football coach in the last century.

Miguel Coley is the only coach in the 116 years of organised schoolboy football to have won five-consecutive Manning Cups and Oliver Shields.

Coley’s talent is both unique and mesmerising. Has any administrator in Jamaica’s football hierarchy ever wondered for one retrospective second why German Winifred Schafer (2013-2016) encouraged young Coley to travel to Spain to sit the examination for the UEFA ‘B’ licence along with the AFC ‘A’ licence in the Mid-East?

Schafer had become disgruntled and disillusioned with the incompetence and gross inefficiency of the JFF, and was fired for failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup tournament. Schafer, who 16 years earlier had guided Cameroon to victory in the African Nations Cup along with qualifying them for the 2002 World Cup in the same year, ensured that the Jamaican coaching prodigy accompanied him to his new assignment in the Mid-East where employment in Iraq and Qatar was instantaneous.

Class acknowledges class when it sees it and endeavours to be associated with it. The central midfielder who once represented Monchengladbach realised that the technocrats of the JFF did not appreciate brilliance and potential upward trajectory — even if it was staring them in in their face.

Schafer could not have chosen a more astute mentee. As a matter of fact, during the 2022 Qatar World Cup the 40-year-old Jamaican coach moonlighted as a technical analyst for one of the local TV networks.

To employ Miguel Coley as Speid’s assistant is disrespectful to Coley.

Jah D

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