I am feeling as confident as I felt on day one going into this
election
programme today. Burrell
My team and myself feel extremely
confident. We have done our homework and based on the response that we have gotten
from the delegates island-wide we are quite upbeat. Boxhill
Nodley Wright, Freelance Writer
WHEN THE clock strikes 9:00 a.m. it will be like the sound of the bell signalling the start of a boxing match.
Today's match will be between two heavyweights battling for the title of Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) president.
The defending champion, Captain Horace Burrell, has held the title for the past nine years. Crenston Boxhill, the challenger, is chairman of the South/Central Confederation and president of the Clarendon Football Association.
After months of talking and posturing, today is the day the delegates will decide which man will lead them for another four years. Both men are expressing confidence.
"My team and myself feel extremely confident. We have done our homework and based on the response that we have gotten from the delegates island-wide we are quite upbeat," Boxhill, who was also president of Westmoreland and Manchester, told The Gleaner.
"We have no doubt that we are going to come out victorious," he said.
What Boxhill is banking on is a fresher approach, more transparency and development for local football.
"Discussing Burrell's app-roach with some of the delegates, his team is not taking anything new to them. All he is doing is asking them to give him some more time to continue doing what he has been doing and a lot of what he is doing is destroying the parish associations and the clubs," stated Boxhill.
"He is putting them under more and more strain and in the present scenario it is getting more and more difficult for parishes and clubs to survive," he said.
Burrell, on the other hand, is not troubled by the challenger's view of his work. He is also not concerned in the least by the manifesto presented by Boxhill and his slate on Wednesday.
"I am feeling as confident as I felt on day one going into this election programme on Sunday," Burrell said.
Boxhill has toured each parish with his slate of St James' George Evans (first vice president), Trelawny's Linnel McLean (second vice president), KSAFA's Patrick Roberts (third vice president) and Carlton Barclay also of KSAFA contesting the post of treasurer.
Burrell has done likewise with a mixture of the old guard and the new. Representing the old guard on the Burrell slate are the veteran Lincoln "Happy" Sutherland, who has presided over the parish association of St. Catherine for close to 30 years and has been fondly dubbed president for life. Raymond Anderson of St. Mary is a much younger man but has served with Burrell for some time and is seeking re-election.
Representing the new guard on the Burrell team is Manchester's Dale Spencer, once a close ally of Boxhill, and businessman Allan Morrison, a member of the JFF financial committee and a Burrell and Horace Reid ally.
Following the islandwide tour and campaigning, which many believe included the invitation of FIFA president Joseph 'Sepp' Blatter and FIFA vice president and the top man in CONCACAF Austin 'Jack' Warner to break ground for the long-promised Academy and Training Centre in Portmore, St. Catherine, Burrell is even more confident.
"I have had the opportunity to visit the parish associations where I have had dialogue with the delegates and arising from our meetings I am extremely confident," Burrell said.
These people, he said, were reminded of his achievements - that of improving the profile of the country's football on the international scene and presiding over the country's historic qualification for the 1998 World Cup, the 1999 Under-17 World Cup and the 2001 Under-20 World Cup.
"I have asked my members to support me and they have responded positively," Burrell said. "What I can tell you is that my support will be overwhelming."
While Burrell's achievements cannot be denied, the negatives against him are also telling. Among them are his autocratic leadership style, the lack of attention paid to the local game, issues of transparency and the exclusion of others from the decision-making process. These could count against him.
The introduction of Carlton Barclay, a man of sound business mind and practices is a key card for the Boxhill team. Evans is seen as a success in St. James. McLean has certainly raised the profile of football in Trelawny while the record of Patrick Roberts as an achiever with Shocking Vibes and Arnett Gardens are documented.
Boxhill himself is no novice in international football having served as the manager of the football teams and played a part in their successes before being questionably removed before the World Cup in France.
It could be close.
