Mike Henry says Premier League clubs getting raw deal

Mike Henry, the chairman of Humble Lion Football Club, is calling for deeper consideration from the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) on the matter of sponsorship discussions by National Premier League football clubs in the wake of the recent dissolution of the Professional Football Association of Jamaica.

“The clubs have been fighting hard to survive in the league, many just to be able to exist at the top tier of the national football programme, and what the JFF has directed us to do in ceasing all negotiations for sponsorship at the individual club level is tantamount to instructing some of the clubs to almost commit suicide as far as their Premier League days are concerned.

So the whole matter needs a really serious and sober review,” said Henry.

Meeting

Henry said that a meeting that was called to address the matter last week produced no resolution of the concerns of the clubs’ executives about an order for them to cease all discussions with potential sponsors, as JFF General Secretary Dalton Wint ended up being largely unavailable for the engagement, due to a pressing travel engagement.

Henry also said the JFF, in its correspondence with the Premier League Clubs’ Association (PLCA) on the matter, has gone for official protocol in directing the communication to the association’s chairman, Edward Seaga, who is actually undergoing critical medical care in the United States, and is not in a position to adequately follow the issue, as he normally would.

Henry said he hopes the PLCA will be facilitated with face-to-face discussion on the matter before any concrete decisions are to be taken.