Marley supporting Reggae Boyz

Cedella Marley and the Bob Marley Foundation have forged another partnership with the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF).

This time to assist the marketing and sponsorship generation for the men’s programme in their quest to qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

The announcement was made by JFF president, Michael Ricketts, during a press conference at the federation’s office yesterday and Ricketts welcomed the foundation’s presence and expertise.

“We must market the product so that we (can) attract sponsors and attract corporate entities. The Marley Foundation is on board in this regard. We have been having discussions with Cedella and she has expressed an interest in assisting us to market our football product. She will be trying to help us on the international stage. We have had some discussions and this is the direction she will be heading. So she has now partnered with the JFF as we try to market our football products,” he said.

Cedella and The Bob Marley Foundation were the main contributors to the Reggae Girlz programme during their historic qualification to the FIFA Women’s World Cup in France last year.

Ricketts also revealed that Rudolph Speid and Dennis Chung became the latest board members of the JFF.

Chung will be the new finance chairman and Speid the new technical committee chairman

“Mr Speid and Mr Chung are the two new members of the board of directors. We thought about this long and hard and we want to get people on board who could make a positive impact as these are two areas that can make and break your football,” he said.

Technical perspective

“We looked around and thought Speid could make an impact from a technical perspective, just as we believe Dennis Chung can impact us in a most positive way from a financial standpoint. So I am confident and excited at the prospects these two gentlemen could bring to the programme,” he stated.

He also added that coach Theodore Whitmore would be equipped with the tools and expertise to give the country the best chance of qualifying for a second World Cup, which includes an additional assistant coach to work with current assistant Jerome Waite and Whitmore himself.

“We as best as we can will provide him (Whitmore) with the tools to get the job, because the onus will be on the technical staff and technical committee to get us to the World Cup. We are indeed looking at that (assistant coach), we are in dialogue with somebody that he (Whitmore) has recommended. We are not yet finalised, we are still in the embryonic stage. But we are looking forward and we are very hopeful and expectant that the gentleman will join the staff soon,” he said.

At the press conference, it was announced that Jamaica will play two international friendlies in March. The first on March 11 against Bermuda takes place at Montego Bay Sports Complex, while the second game against Catalonia (an autonomous region is Spain) is set for March 30 in Spain.