Gibson
Paul-Andre Walker, Staff Reporter
CONTRARY TO some reports, Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) general secretary Burchell Gibson has come out to say Reggae Boyz would not suffer in the United Kingdom because of Jamaica's 32-point drop in the FIFA rankings.
A recent story indicated that Jamaican footballers seeking work permits in the U.K. would automatically fail one of the criteria because Jamaica were now ranked at 78.
The article went on to explain that the U.K.'s Home Office had stipulations for offering work permits, one of which maintains that players would have to come from countries that were ranked above 70 in the FIFA rankings.
However, a document coming from the U.K. Home Office's official website and passed on to The Sunday Gleaner from Gibson, explained that the system of ranking the Home Office would use was an average over the past two years.
That being the case, Jamaica, who have been ranked in the 40s over the past two years, would be ranked well below the required 70.
The document also states: "Work permits are issued only for players of the highest calibre who are able to make a contribution to the development of the British game at its highest level.'
For this purpose, the "highest level" of the British game is deemed to be the Premier and Football leagues in England and Scotland.
CRITERIA
In order to establish that a player fits this description, he must meet two criteria:
"He must have played for his country in at least 75 per cent of its competitive 'A' team matches for which he was available for selection during the two years preceding the work permit application; and
"The FIFA ranking of his country must be at or above 70th place in the official rankings list when averaged over the two years preceding the date of the application," the report read.
The media report also quoted Philip Graham, the agent for Jamaican footballers in the U.K., as saying that players for whom he had been hoping to get contracts would now be saddled with Jamaica's ranking and not be able to get required work permits.
Gibson responded to Graham's statements in the press by saying he was a little disappointed.
"I am disappointed with the agent's perception of the information he should have quoted rather than interpreting the information. As you know, perceptions vary and this time his perception was wrong," said Gibson.
Gibson didn't want to comment on the players for whom Graham was now seeking contracts and said that the clubs were the ones that had arrange-ments with him and that should remain a private issue.
