COVID-19 forcing football bosses to rewrite rules
JAMAICA FOOTBALL Federation’s technical committee chairman, Rudolph Speid, says that local football organisers will be working to prevent a repeat of the unsatisfactory end to the 2019-20 season.
He said new rules are likely to be put in place to ensure a satisfactory and agreeable conclusion to the upcoming Red Stripe Premier League campaign if the competition is halted prematurely by the coronavirus.
His comments come in the wake of reports that the English Premier League will consider a proposal to accept the league standings as final if the coronavirus causes another halt to the season and the conditions make it impossible for the campaign to continue. The measure is being regarded as a worst-case scenario framework to remove animosity in how to finish the season. For the rule to be invoked, at least 50 per cent of fixtures (19 of the 38 games for each team) must be played.
OPPORTUNITY TO EVALUATE
Speid believes that the continuing health crisis presents the opportunity to look at different measures regarding how a season should end if there is a health or other crisis. “Before that (March) we weren’t thinking that anything could stop the league. Clearly, at this stage we will definitely have to look at the rules,” Speid told The Gleaner.
Last year’s local premier league season was declared null and void because of the coronavirus. The league was first suspended then abandoned. While Jamaica joined the Netherlands, France, Belgium and other countries in ending their domestic seasons this way, a majority of leagues curtailed their campaigns by declaring the standings at the time as final. Jamaica joined 27 other nations who finished without a champion being crowned. Furthermore, because of the cancellation of football competitions at all levels, there was no relegation for the bottom two teams.
Speid said because of the absence of a rule that governed such a scenario, it is important that a similar fate is avoided this time around because of the implication of placings for the continental tournaments.
“The teams placing first and second, they play in the Concacaf tournament. So it is very important for us not to let what happened last season happen again. We need to put in some rules that will take care of that [situation],” he said.
Molynes United president Herman Cruikshank says that once the proposal is agreed upon by all tiers of local football before the domestic season starts, he would be OK with such a measure.
“It (decision-making) must start from the top,” Cruikshank said, adding that everything should be done to ensure that all stakeholders are aware of the rules.
The league is currently targeting a return to action after the approval of health protocols by the Ministry of Health and Wellness.