Jamaica is just weeks away from playing in this summer’s World Cup, and their women’s national team would love it if their federation could get its act together.
Instead, the players have found themselves calling out the Jamaica Football Federation for what they say is a lack of preparedness and support.
In a statement the team’s players posted on social media on Thursday, the Reggae Girlz laid out the issues they’ve been having with the JFF.
“At a time where we should be focused solely on preparing to compete on the world’s largest stage, we are unfortunately compelled to express our utmost disappointment with the Jamaica Football Federation,” read the statement.
“We hope that by using our platforms to express the reality of our situation, our efforts will be reciprocated. We hope there will be immediate and systematic change within our federation and those in charge of protecting the integrity of women’s football.”
— Cheyna Matthews (@Cheynalee_) June 15, 2023
The JFF’s trouble giving proper funding and resources to their women’s national team is a longstanding issue. Most notably, Cedella Marley — daughter of reggae legend Bob Marley — has spent years supporting the team financially and otherwise, stepping into a gap left by the federation heading into the 2019 World Cup.
The program was dormant from 2010-14, and again for a spell in 2016. Head coaches have worked on an unpaid basis, and the team has had to pay for its own food at times, or jackets during cold-weather CONCACAF qualifying events. The team went on strike in 2019, claiming that the JFF owed them nine months of pay.
Based on the account offered by the current squad, little has changed.
“On multiple occasions, we have sat down with the federation to respectfully express concerns resulting from subpar planning, transportation, accommodations, training conditions, compensation, communication, nutrition, and accessibility to proper resources. We have also showed up repeatedly without receiving contractually agreed upon compensation. We were told that all our requests and concerns would be resolved in a timely manner,” said the statement.
“Unfortunately, that time has expired and once again our questions go unanswered and our concerns unresolved.”
The matter is dire enough that Houston Dash midfielder Havana Solaun’s mother launched a GoFundMe to support the team’s trip to the World Cup, where they will face Brazil, France, and Panama in Group F.
The players noted that Jamaica has missed numerous FIFA international windows this year, losing valuable chances to prepare the squad for the daunting prospect of a group including two World Cup favorites. Per Soccerway, their only matches in 2023 were at the Cup of Nations in February, while the JFF’s YouTube page includes video of an April friendly between the Reggae Girlz and Sheffield United.
At the time of publication, the official JFF site did not list any pre-World Cup friendlies for its women’s team.
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