Sport

'JFF hurt by TV rights sale'

By AINSLEY WALTERS, Staff Reporter

WITH THE PLANNED sale of its colourful New Kingston offices scuttled by governing body FIFA, Treasurer Carlton Barclay of the cash-strapped Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) has blamed the organisation's inability to earn money from international television rights on the previous administration led by Captain Horace Burrell.

Barclay on Sunday told STAR Sports expenses accrued by the Crenston Boxhill administration, which ousted Burrell's team in a tight November 2003 election, were expected but the new JFF administration was banking on qualification for the 2006 World Cup.

However, Barclay said revenue from television rights, during the World Cup qualifiers, could have helped to bail out the JFF, whose debts were last reported to be $55.3m.

"The level of expenses were expected but we also anticipated qualifying for the World Cup. If we had qualified, we would have gotten the sponsorship and gate receipts from the other games, but I wouldn't say it was hinged on that because we have not gotten the benefit of TV rights revenue.

"TV rights," Barclay added, "is the biggest thing for most national associations and we have not gotten that benefit and eventually we will get the benefit," he promised.

Refused to comment

Expanding on the matter, Barclay yesterday pointed to Burrell, who, despite repeated attempts, has refused to comment on JFF matters including a $27.6m debt, which the present administration has on its books as having inherited from his team.

"The previous administration sold the rights to the Caribbean Football Union (CFU), who in turn sold them to Interforever Sports until 2006," said Barclay, explaining the TV rights issue.

Interforever Sports, now Traffic Sports, is a Miami-based company, which holds the international rights, through the CFU, to broadcast Caribbean nations' World Cup qualifying games.

Contacted yesterday, Enrique Sanns, executive vice president of TV operations for Traffic Sports, confirmed that his firm held the international rights for CFU teams for the 2002 and 2006 World Cup campaigns but refused further comment, pointing STAR Sports to the CFU, which, he said, "is the entity that works out the deals".

Turning to the botched sale of the JFF headquarters, bought under Burrell's administration for $24.7m, now commanding an asking price of $48m with a forced sale value of $40m, Barclay said the JFF was unaware that it was doing anything wrong in the eyes of its parent body and there was nothing on FIFA's books barring the sale of the building, prior to receiving a tersely worded letter, threatening expulsion, should the sale be undertaken.

FIFA letter

The FIFA letter, signed by general secretary Urs Linsi, stated in part: 'We wish to reiterate the message given by the FIFA president during the congress in Qatar, in which he pledged that all member associations of FIFA shall have their own house of football by 2006...'

'...the purchase and renovation of the JFF headquarters was in line with the 'House of Football' logic, and as such, FIFA approved the use of your Financial Assistance Programme (FAP) for the year 1999 and 2000 ($500,000 total) for this purpose. If it is confirmed that your federation in fact sells this building as part of the response to its current financial position, please be advised that FIFA will consider this action to be a misuse of FIFA funds...'

"In that letter, it didn't quote any regulation that we breached, none whatsoever," the JFF treasurer pointed out. "It quoted the president's speech in Qatar but right now the sale of the building is irrelevant because we now know, irrespective, that we can't sell the building".

"We wouldn't want to bring the game in disrepute. We wouldn't want to be disqualified and therefore the sale of the building is scrapped but what I am saying is there was no regulation. Obviously, if there was a regulation, it would have been noted and we would not think about selling the building."

Barclay said the JFF will now turn to raising revenue from "some other source" as the sale of the building was just the first step in a new business plan being pursued by the organisation.