Away with Butler’s package deal
As I have stated previously in this column, it would be nice to have Bayer Leverkusen’s star striker Leon Bailey representing Jamaica’s national senior team, based on the excellent form he is showing in the prestigious German Bundesliga. He is definitely a class player. My one concern about Bailey is the worrisome caveat by his father/agent Craig Butler, which seems to be suggesting that if Jamaica wants to have the talented striker wearing the national colours, the country must accept a package deal which would includes selecting Bailey’s brother Kyle Butler, who might not be able to make the team on merit; and giving Butler the job as Jamaica’s director of football. I have read that 400 persons from Ocho Rios have signed a petition, which is seemingly designed to get Butler to have his way, calling on the Government to step in as mediators between the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) and Craig Butler and his sons. My reaction to the petition is that it is absolutely ridiculous and should be dismissed with the contempt it deserves. First, should noted it be that, in asking the Government to do something that is prohibited under the statutes of FIFA, the persons behind the petition are being disrespectful to the JFF, which has already outlined its position in regard to Butler and his seemingly unorthodox approach to putting himself in a position to dictate how national football should be managed.
OUT OF ORDER
I think it is absolutely out of order for Butler to be treating the JFF as if it is a loose cannon and not an organisation that is governed by rules and regulations and is answerable to its affiliates. Even if it means losing Bailey to the other countries he is eligible to represent, I believe the JFF must stand up to Butler. JFF President Michael Ricketts must hold firm to his principled stance that Butler must fall in line if he wants to become a part of the national football and not bully his way in through unreasonable demands. If the JFF should capitulate to Butler, believe we would be setting a dangerous precedent, which I am sure others would seek to exploit in the future.
To be frank, I am happy that Butler did not apply for the position of director of Jamaica’s football, which I understand he felt should have been offered to him. Based on what appears to be his ‘my way or the highway’ approach to doing things, I have very little doubt that it would not take him very long to usurp the authority of the officers of the federation, including the president.
One can just imagine what would happen if Butler was director of national football and coach Theodore ‘Tappa’ Whitmore decides to select Leon Bailey and not Kyle Butler. My instinct is that Whitmore would immediately become embroiled in a tug of war, which would I probably cost him his job. If some of the things Butler is being quoted as saying are true, it would seem to suggest that he lacks a fundamental understanding of the history of Jamaica’s football. Whether he genuinely believes he is more equipped than Downswell for the national technical director job, I cannot understand him questioning what Downswell brings to the table. To be brutally frank, I personally do not care how many contacts Butler might have in Holland, Belgium, Germany or in any other places in the world, I find his general attitude and his brashness unbecoming of someone I would like to see holding a position of prominence in national football. In fact, as things are, I would definitely prefer to see him outside than inside. Insofar as Bailey is concerned, I would like him to one day reach the enviable levels attained by the likes of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and the Brazilian Neymar. However, if having him represent Jamaica is going to create a problem, I would have no difficulty in losing him to another nation. Raheem Sterling has my complete respect, albeit that he is representing England and not Jamaica.