Adrian Frater, News Editor
Powell
WESTERN BUREAU:
UNCERTAINTY IS facing the 2007-08 St. James Division One football competition as the St. James Football Association (StJFA) has not been able to secure a sponsorship commitment from Sandals Resorts International, the competition's perennial sponsors.
"The competition should have started already but we cannot make any move without a sponsorship package in place to meet our various commitments," said StJFA president Orville Powell. "We have written to the Sandals Group on several occasions and followed up with telephone calls, but we are yet to get a definitive reply."
The Division One competition, which is second only in prominence to the Hart & Son Senior League on the StJFA domestic calendar, has been sponsored exclusively by the Sandals Resorts International for the past 17 years. As a consequence, the name, the Sandals Division One, is now a household name in St. James.
Restructuring
"The Sandals Group has been good to us over the years and this is a sponsor that we just don't want to lose," said Powell. "We even contemplated starting the competition using the Sandals name even without a sponsorship deal," he said.
When the Sandals Group was contacted yesterday, a company official, who asked not to be identified, said the company was now undergoing some restructuring which might result in some projects being discontinued.
"The company is now re-structuring and some projects will be discontinued, but I don't know what the situation will be with the sponsorship of St. James football," the Sandals official told The Gleaner. "That is a decision to be taken at the highest level."
With no sponsorship in place, the StJFA has taken a decision to put the Division One competition on hold until January when a decision will be taken as to what course of action will be taken.
"We have decided to put the competition on hold and await a decision from Sandals," said Powell. "If they indicate to us that they are no longer interested, we will seek to acquire another sponsor."
