Jamaica's Under-20 football team head coach, Donovan Duckie, and his assistant, Lenworth Hyde Sr, were officially relieved of their duties on Thursday.

The Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) decision follows the junior Reggae Boyz's elimination during the final round of CONCACAF Under-20 World Cup qualifiers in Trinidad and Tobago last month.

Needing only a draw to advance to the World Cup Finals in Egypt in September and October this year, the young Reggae Boyz crashed out of the competition after going down 4-0 to Honduras in their last preliminary group game.

According to JFF president, Captain Horace Burrell, the federation's technical committee was instructed to examine reasons for the team's failure to advance and, based on the report, he had no choice but to dispense with the services of the coaches.

facing consequences

"People in charge must bear the brunt and face the consequences of their performance. Football is about results, not about emotions," Burrell said.

However, when contacted, Duckie maintained a positive outlook. "I am a much happier man now," he said. "In terms of my level of comfort, I am happier."

Meanwhile, members of the JFF's administrative and technical staff agreed to take a pay cut, ranging from five to 20 per cent.

Burrell told The Gleaner in an interview Thursday night that the failure of the Under-20 team to qualify for the this year's Youth World Cup in Egypt - a project in which they invested heavily - and a 66 per cent cut in the monthly subvention from the Social Development Foundation has played a major role in the decision.

"This is unfortunate but we have to survive, because if we have no funds to pay our staff, then we are going to have a demoralised staff, which makes no sense," said Burrell.

The move is the latest in a series of cost-cutting measures by the JFF. In November last year they sacked the entire coaching staff of the women's national programme after the national senior men's team, a major earner of revenue for the body, was eliminated from the World Cup qualifiers in the semi-final round.

Also, the cash-strapped JFF recently reported losses for the last couple of games, which had also included the hosting of the Digicel Caribbean Cup, a tournament the Reggae Boyz won in December.

Burrell further pointed out that his staff had already been informed of the decision, and among those taking a 20 per cent cut is general secretary Horace Reid. Burrell also took time out to commend his staff, saying their decision to accept the pay cut may have saved a few jobs.

"I have to commend the staff because rather than not decide to take a pay cut, which would have had to see us dispense with the ser-vices of some of them, they agreed and we've saved jobs," Burrell said.

Former national Under-20 coaches Donovan Duckie (left) and Lenworth Hyde Sr.