The players of the women’s national team Jamaica express a boycott two matches of the tournament due to “constant mistreatment” by their football federation. Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw was one of those who posted a statement on Instagram last weekend saying that World Cup players would not participate in this week’s CONCACAF Gold Cup qualifiers.
Interim coach Xavier Gilbert has to build a team of circumstances to play Jamaica’s qualifying match against Panama on Wednesday. Jamaica went down 2-1. The second match against Guatemala is scheduled for Sunday in Kingston. “Although this is one of the most difficult decisions we have had to make, we believe it is necessary to take such a strong stance to end the ongoing mistreatment we have been receiving from the Jamaica Football Federation,” the players’ statement said. . , who say they did not receive “full and correct” payments for their participation in last summer’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. Jamaica advanced to the round of 16 for the first time before losing to Colombia.
The players also maintain that the federation failed to pay many bonuses for World Cup qualification. The Jamaica Football Federation has released a statement stating that all of its debts to players for 2022 have been paid. The statement said the only remaining payment is 20% of FIFA’s prize money for the World Cup as the players have not specified how the funds should be distributed, but those payments are being processed. The JFF further stated that it has yet to receive the full payment of the prize money from FIFA.
The internationals also point out that they were not notified about the changes in coaches and other changes in the technical staff. Jamaica parted company with World Cup coach Lorne Donaldson and appointed Gilbert as interim. The players said they learned Gilbert was the coach through social media, three days before they reported for CONCACAF qualifying matches.
A long simmering tension
“As always, it is an honor and a privilege to represent Jamaica. Our job is to do the best we can and put all our efforts into representing our country, making our fans and loved ones at home proud. Due to the current circumstances placed upon us by the Jamaica Football Federation, we cannot do our job“. The tension between the players and the Jamaican federation has long been hidden.
The internationals also took to social media to denounce what they called poor support ahead of the World Cup. Their pleas for salaries and financial support prompted a pair of crowdfunding campaigns to help the team.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
