MIGHTY MIKE!
New president of the Jamaica Football Federation, Mike Ricketts (right), gets a congratulatory handshake from the man whom he beat for the top job, Stewart Stephenson.
NEW JAMAICA Football Federation (JFF) president, Michael Ricketts, says there will be no honeymoon period for his administration after he was elected to local football’s top post at the annual general meeting and voting congress at the JFF secretariat yesterday.
However, he revealed that he is fully aware of the challenges facing the federation and he is confident the personnel within the ranks can move Jamaica’s football forward.
“This is no honeymoon and I am very much aware of the challenges that we will face going forward. But I am absolutely sure that we have the machinery, we have the personnel that will do the repair job that is necessary,” he said.
Ricketts said in the absence of the late Captain Horace Burrell many things went quiet, but insists they are ready to move again and take the sport forward.
“We feel we have the full support of the board of directors and I hope we have a very positive impact going forward, and from what we have seen, there are good things on the horizon. We cannot speak of any particular arrangement, but we are working and we do hope that in
short order, we will see positive change,” he said.
Throughout the campaign, Ricketts’ opponent, Stewart Stephenson, received popular support. However, the new president said life is about proving your detractors wrong and he and his administration will be working to prove his doubters wrong.
“Who am I that I should have no detractors? This is an election and not everybody can vote for you in an election so you are going to have detractors. So now we must work and prove our detractors wrong. We have a mandate from our directors and we will be fulfilling our mandate ... and with the staff we have, plus the directors, we are pretty confident we can do a good job,” he continued.
“I am a parish president and I know the challenges of the presidents, and based on my experience and the number of times I was exposed by the late Captain Burrell, I believe I have the credentials and the support to do well. But we must work together as a family in the interest of building football. We must work with the parish presidents and improve the support to the parish and once you improve support to the parishes you will improve your team and administrators.
“But each component of the game will be addressed under this new administration – refereeing, coaching and administration. And we must end up with a better product, because once we have a product of high quality, then we become more marketable,” he reasoned.