Latest News
Speid lashes out at punishing JPL schedule
December 16, 2024
Cavalier Soccer Club boss Rudolph Speid lashed out at administrators of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) Competition's Committee for their scheduling of his team's matches, following their 3-1 defeat to lowly Chapelton Maroons in the lone Jamaica Premier League (JPL) football game on Sunday, at Sabina Park.
Cavalier had three outstanding games due to their participation in the Concacaf Caribbean Club championship, which they won recently.
However, with the first round officially ended, the organisers, in an attempt to complete the outstanding first-round fixtures, have scheduled the defending champions to play five games in two weeks and Speid said this equates to match-fixing against his team.
"We just don't have the cutting edge anymore, maybe because they are tired why they give away those three goals. It was bound to happen soon and I suppose today it happened," Speid said.
"All three goals were defensive errors and we can only point to fatigue. We have had a rough schedule and it is going to get rougher on us because we have a match on Wednesday and a next match on Sunday. Clearly the organisers know what is best," he stated.
"They (competitions committee) set all of these matches and we would have played seven more matches than any other team in the competition because of the Caribbean Cup. So it is just one of those things and we will just have to soldier through. But it amounts to match-fixing because it is very difficult for us."
Speid pointed out that the competition's department is oblivious to the physical rigours players go through over 90 minutes, and said that Cavalier are being punished.
"We are being punished because we are the champions. No other team has ever gotten a fixture like this, playing so many games in such a short time," he lamented.
"We have asked for a postponement and everyone is just sitting around looking and nobody is moving to correct this thing. But here is the problem; most of those people are not technical people. They are administrators. They sit in the office. They have never run 90 minutes, so they don't understand what the players are going through," he stated.
He added that his team will try their best to manage the upcoming games in this period, but he has very little confidence in their ability to perform at their best.
"We have to try because we cannot give up and we cannot not turn up. I have tried my best to put them in the best condition but half of the players have niggling injuries.
"But the people in the JFF Competition's Committee they know best. They must have a reason why this is happening now to a team that they should be proud of," Speid said.
"We will have to take transportation to Montego Bay, and to travel from Richmond to Ocho Rios is two-and-a-half hours of driving.
"So I don't know what will happen. But I guess we will have to turn up and play if they say we have to turn up and play," he noted of upcoming fixtures against St James' Montego Bay United FC and St Ann's Mount Pleasant Academy FC.
Meanwhile, Jamari Howell (26th minute) and Levaughn Williams (66th) gave Chapelton a 2-0 lead, before Jalmaro Calvin cut the deficit in half at the 72nd minute. Malique Stephens restored the two-goal deficit nine minutes from the end.
"It (dropping points) affects us. But we are not really worried about the dropped points. If we had gotten the time and we dropped the points I would be okay. But it just seems like things are stacked against us in this particular period," Speid argued.
Chapelton Maroons' coach Jermaine Douglas, whose team climbed out of the relegation zone courtesy of the win, said it's three valuable points.
"We need the points, so regardless of the opponent we need the points. We were stuck at the bottom of the table and needed to move ourselves up the table, so it was an important win," Douglas said.
"Beating the defending champions it cannot get any better than that. It's a big boost not only for me but the entire team. It is never good to be in the relegation zone, no matter what time of the season it is, so we are happy that we are off the bottom of the table. But the work continues for us to stay away from that area," he said.
Chapelton jumped to 11th in the 14-team competition with 12 points, while Cavalier stayed fifth on 22 points, six adrift leaders Mount Pleasant.
