It’s wait and see for Ricketts

With the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases continuing to grow each day, president of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) Michael Ricketts sees little chance of the Red Stripe Premier League (RSPL) restarting anytime soon.

The RSPL has been suspended since March 12 due to the pandemic. The country recorded 381 confirmed cases up to Tuesday. Twenty-nine persons have recovered from the virus locally while there have been seven deaths.

"The number of COVID-19 cases is consistently increasing, which certainly does not look well for us from a footballing standpoint, and so we just have to wait on directives from the Prime Minister's Office," said Ricketts.

Just have to wait

"I want to do what is right and what is correct, and the health of our nation comes first, and so from that perspective, we just have to wait on the instructions from the Ministry of Health and Wellness and from Concacaf and FIFA on the way forward," he said yesterday while visiting the home of national goalkeeper Akeem Chambers in Olympic Gardens. Chambers' house was completely burnt out last weekend. The JFF and the Government are among those offering help.

The Netherlands, France, Belgium, and Argentina have taken the decision to end their league seasons despite recommendations from world governing body FIFA to member associations to only suspend competitions and complete their seasons later.

However, although these football powerhouses have cancelled their seasons, Ricketts said he is hopeful that the 2019-20 RSPL competition will be completed.

"It is certainly going to be challenging, but we would love to have the league completed, but we still have to wait and see how this COVID-19 develops," Ricketts said.

"Even though we will be supporting from a football standpoint for the resumption of the league, we are cognisant of the fact that it is going to be a huge challenge," he said. "We certainly are going to be having discussions with the PLCA in this regard, and we will, of course, in due time, make a formal announcement."