OBVIOUSLY, international friendlies involving leading overseas footballers would have been ideal ahead of inter-confederation play-offs in late March for a spot at the FIFA World Cup in mid-year.

But, as knowledgeable football followers readily appreciate, that wasn’t possible for Jamaica’s football programme since there is no FIFA match window this year before that mini tournament.

For those less knowledgeable about international football, the absence of FIFA windows means overseas professionals are usually unavailable to represent their nations because of contractual obligations to their clubs.

Hence, we are pleased that in the current situation the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) was able to do the next best thing by utilising mostly locally based players in away friendlies against Caribbean neighbours Grenada and Martinique.

In mid-February, the Jamaicans — including experienced, overseas-based defender Mr Damion Lowe — battled to a 1-0 win over Grenada at Kirani James Athletics Stadium in St George’s.

And last weekend a fully locally based group beat Martinique 2-0.

Like Jamaica’s interim Head Coach Mr Rudolph Speid, we believe it very appropriate to thank our neighbours for assisting preparation for what we all know will be very challenging engagements in late March.

Very importantly, the two friendlies provided Mr Speid with the opportunity to assess local talent in overseas conditions with a view to selection options for the play-offs.

In both games Mr Speid appeared to credit his players for constructively moving the ball around while maintaining control.

Mr Speid and the JFF will surely now feel that, on the field at least, they have done the best they can ahead of their play-off fixture in Mexico against Oceania’s New Caledonia on March 26. A win over New Caledonia would take the Reggae Boyz to the final play-off against highly rated Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) out of Africa.

Unfortunately, recent happenings off the field have rendered the situation far less straightforward. We refer, of course, to upheaval in Mexico following the killing of an alleged drug cartel leader by Mexican security forces last weekend.

News broke this week that fear, instability, and uncertainty had taken hold in much of Mexico as a result of the violence. Against that backdrop the leadership of Jamaica’s football fraternity is understandably worried.

Head of the JFF, Mr Michael Ricketts was reported by this newspaper on Thursday as saying that his team would tread carefully because of the need to protect players and staff.

As the situation now stands, Guadalajara, among Mexico’s leading cities, will host the March 26 clash between Jamaica and New Caledonia, as well as the follow-up between the winner of that tie and DRC.

Monterrey in Mexico’s north-east will host a second play-off round between Bolivia and Suriname, with the winner facing Iraq for a place at the World Cup being co-hosted by Mexico, United States, and Canada.

Mr Ricketts tells us that the JFF will “strategically plan” and follow events carefully to ensure they do the “right thing going forward”. Concacaf and FIFA are clearly also uncertain of the next step, doubtless well aware that there isn’t much time if venue changes become necessary.

And, lest we forget, the World Cup itself is just around the corner with, we are told, Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Monterrey due to host 13 games.