7 months ago
24
JAMAICA FOOTBALL Federation (JFF) president Michael Ricketts, who was re-elected unopposed as vice-president of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) at the 48th Ordinary Congress last Sunday at the Royalton Hotel in St Lucia, hopes to lead the region’s football one day but declared that he is willing to wait his turn.
Ricketts, who for many years served as a vice-president of the JFF, until 2017 when he replaced the late Captain Horace Burrell, who passed away after an illness, completed the last two years of the previous president’s term before he was elected for his first full term in 2019 and was returned again last year.
He was first elected as CFU vice-president in 2021 and returned unopposed at the 48th Ordinary Congress.
He admitted that to lead the region’s football one day would be a great honour but that he would not go out of his way to hold the post.
“As it relates to me being president of the CFU, if it comes, to God be the glory. If it does not come, I am not going to force my hand. I will wait, and if it happens, it happens.
“I am not going to be overzealous and not be a team player because I want to be the president of the CFU,” he told The Gleaner.
Meanwhile, the JFF boss believes that the confidence CFU members have shown in him is a result of the strides and impact Jamaican football has been making under his stewardship.
He pointed put that across the region, Jamaica’s achievements, men and women, have been a source of pride for all and said all credit must go to the staff of the JFF.
“I was re-elected. There were nine of us. Four were returned. Five were not. So it speaks volumes not just for Michael Ricketts but for the work that is being done by the JFF.
“I don’t think it is because of me, personally, why I was re-elected unopposed. It was simply what is happening with Jamaica’s football.
“So I would want to say massive congratulations to the staff of the JFF, the directors, the technical department. All would have done so well to ensure that Jamaica would have had a positive impact. Not just locally but globally.”
He added that what regional football observers and fans see happening with Jamaica football is all about what they do here at home.
“When you go around the Caribbean, persons speak of our achievements as part of the Caribbean. So it certainly speaks volumes for what our technical staff, coaches, our coaching education programmes, our parishes, directors and staff, are doing for us to be at the fore.”
Ricketts pointed out that the new-look CFU executive has already had informal discussions on the way forward and that they must use their voices as one to make demands of the mother organisation so they can continue to positively impact the development of the sport in the Caribbean.
However, he believes that in order to achieve their objectives and lift the standard of football in the region, there must be proper youth development, at least semi-professional national leagues, proper infrastructure and the re-estalishment of an international Caribbean football tournament.
English (US) ·