‘NOT MY BUSINESS’
Hallgrímsson not concerned with public perception of JFF’S approach to contracts after Donaldson exit
JAMAICA senior men’s football team Head Coach Heimir Hallgrímsson says he is not fazed by recent talk about how the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) is perceived to handle its coaches’ contracts.
Contract renewals at the JFF have been a topic of discussion with the JFF’S release of former women’s senior team Head Coach Lorne Donaldson. His contract expired on September 30 and the JFF said that the decision to not renew was a mutual one by both parties after what it said was an extended discussion.
But Donaldson refuted this, saying the meeting was brief and he was told his contract would not be renewed because the team did not beat Canada over two legs to qualify for the Paris Olympics next year and also did not secure an automatic spot at the upcoming Concacaf W Gold Cup.
Donaldson suggested that in spite of his achievements with the team, the most notable being qualifying for the FIFA Women’s World Cup and getting to the round of 16, the JFF not offering a new contract means it is taking an approach that you’re only as good as your last game.
However, the JFF has had a record of drafting contracts that expire at the end of specific qualification campaigns. This is reportedly the case for Hallgrímsson, as the JFF said when announcing his employment in September last year that his contract ends at the end of the campaign for the 2026 World Cup.
Hallgrímsson did not want to speak about the conflict between Donaldson and the JFF, saying he does not know the full details, but said that if Donaldson’s claim is true, he is not concerned about his own job security.
“It doesn’t influence how I approach games, but I don’t know anything about that,” Hallgrímsson told the Jamaica Observer. “That’s what he said, but I don’t know how these talks went and I’m not going to get involved in that. That would be really, really, and highly unprofessional of us to be talking about somebody else’s contract.
“There are probably better people in his house that you can talk to that know more about it than us,” he said jokingly. “It would be unprofessional to say anything when we don’t know all the facts about it. But of course, it’s surprising to us as coaches when a coach that gets a good result is not continuing.”
Hallgrímsson is preparing to face Grenada in the Concacaf Nations League in St George’s, Grenada, on Thursday, then Haiti in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, the following Sunday.
The Reggae Girlz go into Concacaf W Gold Cup qualifying later this month against host Panama, then in Kingston against Guatemala.
The JFF says it has drafted a shortlist and is now interviewing candidates to replace Donaldson ahead of these games.