Cedella Marley slams Jamaica FA, quits over player treatment

Cedella Marley has resigned from her function because the Jamaica Football Federation’s (JFF) international ladies’s soccer ambassador in protest to how the organisation has handled Jamaica’s ladies’s staff — the Reggae Girlz.

Jamaica’s gamers are nonetheless ready for his or her full fee from the historic 2023 World Cup marketing campaign, with Marley criticising the JFF in an announcement saying it has responded to complaints by persevering with to “malign, mistreat and vilify” the Reggae Girlz. She provides the JFF has finished this “by fostering a blatantly false narrative in the media with no regard for the potential impact on the players or the program itself.”

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Marley has lengthy been the champion of the Reggae Girlz and helped get the staff again collectively in 2014 after it was disbanded in 2008. She helped fund their 2019 and 2023 World Cup campaigns by means of the Bob and Rita Marley Foundation, a charity named after her dad and mom, alongside enterprise companions. Together they invested greater than $2.75 million into the expansion and improvement of ladies’s soccer in Jamaica. But she has grown more and more annoyed on the JFF’s treatment of the Reggae Girlz.

The gamers mentioned after the 2019 World Cup they didn’t obtain their agreed fee for the match and began a “No Pay, No Play” social media marketing campaign. Four years on, Jamaica reached the knockout levels of the 2023 World Cup, regardless of difficulties within the build-up to the match with the JFF.

After their historic run to the spherical of 16, in October, the gamers introduced they might not play in upcoming internationals towards Panama and Guatemala, taking the “drastic stance” to deliver an finish to “constant mistreatment” from the JFF.The gamers mentioned they have been ready for his or her full funds from the match, whereas they mentioned they solely learnt of the appointment of latest head coach Xavier Gilbert on social media.

The JFF responded by suspending the players in query and mentioned it was “uncomfortable with the response of the players and the non-attendance of the player representatives to a scheduled meeting”.

Marley – who the gamers see as their “fairy godmother,” in keeping with worldwide Chinyelu Asher — has grown exasperated on the gamers’ treatment by the hands of the JFF and issued an announcement saying she felt the JFF is “neither receptive nor interested” in her “manner of support.”

“As the Ambassador for the women’s programme and a fellow Jamaican, I must express my disappointment and growing concern with the way the team has been treated, especially in recent months,” Marley mentioned in an announcement.

“The Reggae Girlz’ patriotism, professionalism and performance has won them fans and favour all over the world. Yet the organisation that has gained the most [in wealth and public standing] from this continues to malign, mistreat and vilify them at every opportunity by fostering a blatantly false narrative in the media with no regard for the potential impact on the players or the program itself. The longer this agenda is allowed to advance unchecked, the more the future of women’s football in Jamaica is jeopardised.

“With that in thoughts, I’ve determined that I can now not related myself or my household’s title with any group that might oppress and manipulate the very ones they’ve a accountability to help and uplift. Effective instantly, I’m resigning from my function as ambassador.”

Marley will continue investing in women’s football in Jamaica, the region and the diaspora through her “Football is Freedom” initiative. She signs off the statement by saying: “To my Reggae Girlz, you already know that we’re household for all times, and I’m right here for you endlessly!”

Michael Ricketts, JFF president, responded to Marley’s statement saying: “I’m saddened by the unlucky resolution of Miss Marley to chop ties with the Women’s Program right now. We believed we had made important progress in our discussions, and we have been eagerly awaiting the World Cup gamers to substantiate their availability. We should thank Miss Marley and the Bob Marley Foundation for his or her unwavering help over the years. We wish to guarantee her that the progress we now have made shall be solidified as we transfer ahead.”

JFF vice-president Raymond Anderson, who is challenging Ricketts for the presidency of the JFF, said: “This resignation casts a protracted shadow of distrust over the present JFF administration. It is now clear that there was a deliberate effort to discredit our two-time World Cup-qualifying Reggae Girlz. This squad, a beacon of hope and delight for our nation, has been let down. In simply three months, the JFF has managed to undo what took Cedella Marley and everybody concerned a decade to construct.”