Waite wants Arnett pay dispute settled ASAP
Coach of Arnett Gardens Football Club Jerome ‘Jerry’ Waite admitted that salaries owed to players for two months have affected the team’s performance in the Red Stripe Premier League (RSPL) and he wants the problem to be settled as soon as possible.
A petition, sent to the Kingston and St Andrew Football Association (KSAFA) a week ago, read: “We the players of Arnett Gardens Football Club wish to have your association (KSAFA) intervene in what has become a crisis. We have not received our salaries for two and a half months, plus the incentives. Mr Richard ‘Charlie Chaplain’ Bennett has tendered his resignation.
“The president, Mr Patrick Roberts, has refused to resign, and is clearly not in a position to fix the problems.
“Member of Parliament Mark Golding has offered to step in and we know he has the resources to fix the problem.
“We are unanimously asking for the reins of the club to be handed over to Mr Golding.”
“Jamaica is already aware of our internal problems and we are hoping that it can be resolved as soon as possible. It is my duty to continue keeping the team focused as it relates to the way forward,” Waite told STAR Sports during the RSPL weekly press conference at the Jamaica Football Federation headquarters yesterday.
OVERLY WORRIED
“It has affected the training somewhat, but despite all of that we are trying to ensure that the players are in the right frame of mind to continue playing good football for the club,” he added.
Waite also said he is not overly worried about qualification for the RSPL Championship round. Arnett are in second position on 48 points behind already qualified Portmore United (62), and with three rounds remaining in the preliminary stage, a win against Portmore on Monday night could make the ‘Junglists’ safe.
“I’m not worried about qualification to the Championship play-off stage. I will still be gunning for the automatic semifinal position then take it from there,” Waite, who guided Arnett to four of their five national club titles, pointed out.
“Last year, we did not play in the CFU (Club Championship), but this time around we and Portmore have played more games than the other local clubs in the RSPL. As you all know, Arnett are in three competitions that is the CFU final round, Premier League and Jackie Bell Knockout. We will continue to rotate players,” he said about his team that are without a win and picked up only four points in the last seven RSPL encounters.