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More money for JFF after FIFA lifts restrictions
March 20, 2025
After nearly five years of strict financial governance, the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) received a major boost on Tuesday when FIFA removed the restrictions on local football's governing body.
JFF President Michael Ricketts, in an online press conference yesterday, said the lifting of the restrictions will make things a bit easier for the federation.
"This morning we have some great news for the football fraternity. We want to make an announcement that we were yesterday (Tuesday) advised by the FIFA audit committee, that based on the information coming from the recently done audit, that we have now been formally and officially removed from restricted funding," he declared.
"It is welcome news and we are absolutely delighted. It was certainly a job well done and I must use this opportunity and this forum to express my absolute regard to our accounting department, led by Mrs (Grace) Lewis and other staff members, and our general secretary (Dennis Chung) who have masterminded and supervised the whole process."
He said the process was long and tedious but they were determined to get it right.
"This means things will be a lot easier. We will be treated differently for sure because now we would have met all the requirements that were sent out by the audit committee of FIFA.
"They are comfortable and happy with where we are now. And the onus will certainly be on us to ensure that we continue on this trajectory and ensure that we continue to do things how they would want us to do it," Ricketts said.
According to Christophe Suppiger, head of the financial governance programme at FIFA, the lifting of the restrictions now means the JFF will receive bigger instalments and will have the opportunity to access funding which was withheld during their probation period.
"It means that now the member association (MA) will have full access again for funding. We can provide bigger instalments. It doesn't mean we will release any backlog in any one go.
"In cases where MAs were on restricted funding it means there is a big backlog of funding in the past that they have not gotten in full, and then based on the situation of the MAs, we are closely monitoring the situation," he said.
"The current FIFA forward programme is US$3 million a project, and US$1.25m for operational costs.
"For each financial year in order to get the full amount of US$1.25m, MAs have to fulfil certain football-related criteria.
"Also they need to fulfil the criteria of having competitions for women, girls and boys to access the full funding," he disclosed.
General secretary Dennis Chung said the federation is now fully committed to proper financial governance.
"We have indicated that we would have gotten to this point. We were a little delayed because of the election but we always had the confidence that it would happen," Chung said.
