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Anderson: We should have started earlier
October 05, 2021
Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) Vice President Raymond Anderson says the conclusion of the Jamaica Premier League final in near darkness last Saturday could have been avoided if they had started the third-place match earlier.
Cavalier captured the title, defeating Waterhouse 5-4 on penalties after the final finished 1-1 in regulation and in extra time. The game, which was scheduled to kick off at 2:30 p.m., was pushed back until 3 p.m. as the third-place play-off between Tivoli Gardens and Mount Pleasant, which started at midday, went into extra time and penalties. That factor, combined with the 20-minute rain delay in the second half and the extra time period in the final, resulted in the penalty shoot-out commencing as the natural light faded at a venue with no floodlights present at the UWI-JFF Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence.
Anderson said that although they had the best intentions they take full responsibility for the situation that could have been problematic had the shoot-out continued past the sixth round.
"In hindsight, we should have really started the first game earlier for two reasons - avoiding the darkness and finishing before the curfew time (6 p.m.)," Anderson told STAR Sports.
The decision for the third-place play-off to have an extra time session instead of a straight penalty shoot-out was also addressed and Anderson said that they wanted to give the play-off teams as much playing time as possible given the nature of the truncated season.
"When we started the league we said based on the playing time that we have, one leg of the preliminary round, any opportunity that we got, we wanted the play-off teams to play the extra time and if necessary penalties," Anderson said.
With a look towards the 2022 season, Professional Football Jamaica Limited General Manager Arlene Martin said coordination in avoiding such a scenario again will be among the issues to be ironed out.
"We had a number of eventualities but there are additional factors that we have to plan for moving forward and to work with the JFF on. We just have to tighten up the coordination of the times, possibly," Martin said. " All I can say is that we will review (it) as we go into next season."
Additionally, Martin said that any return to the club venues for next year will be dependent on the current COVID-19 situation in the island as well as the Government's approval for the league with centralised venues not completely off the table. Among the four venues that were proposed for the season, Stadium East, the National Stadium and Sabina Park have the necessary floodlights to accommodate night matches.
