Boyz 2026 campaign already picking up steam

THE QATAR World Cup is on the horizon but the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), courtesy of a failed qualification campaign, is forced to look beyond that, to 2026.

The road to 2026 has started with some enthusiasm and some good moves, as the JFF have hired Icelandic coach Heimir Hallgrimsson and backed it up with the acquisition of Dennis Chung to change the operations.

According to JFF president, Michael Ricketts, the hiring of Hallgrimsson and Chung is expected to set off a chain of events that will provide a solid footing for optimum performance from the Reggae Boyz during the qualification stages for the 2026 World Cup.

He believes the early moves are already bearing fruit.

In an interview with The Sunday Gleaner, both Ricketts and Chung agree corporate Jamaica has been taking an interest in the JFF since the cog has been set in motion for the United States of America, Canada and Mexico, which will host the 2026 World Cup.

“Our new general secretary will lead the secretariat, so he will oversee all marketing programmes and I’m pretty certain that he has hit the track running because I know for sure that he has already started discussions with various entities coming out of the private sector.

“This is an area that we must give a lot of attention to and we definitely will be working very hard to attract new sponsors, whether it be government, or corporate or agencies, whether locally and/or overseas, but yeah, this is something that we will definitely be working hard on,” Ricketts said.

Chung added: “There is an effort to build the value of the brand, because when you build the value of the brand, then obviously, there’s going to be a lot more attraction for corporate Jamaica.

“It’s not just a matter of us going cap in hand and saying give us some money, but this is the value that we are going to give you and I know, based on my interactions over the past few weeks, the Jamaica football brand is very big.

“I don’t think it’s going to be a difficult thing and the president and his team have already initiated some discussions with some corporate sponsors who are showing a lot of interest,” Chung said, adding that these would have been completed before the first Reggae Girlz match against Paraguay on Thursday.

According to Ricketts, Hallgrimsson will have the added responsibility of leading the process of the direction of the island’s football programme, as the coach and his two staff members that joined him in Jamaica will chart the path to the World Cup in tandem with the JFF’s Technical Committee.

TEAM EFFORT

“He will be working closely along with the technical staff and, of course, the leadership of the secretariat. It’s a team effort, and we just want to work together and when the right time comes, we can execute with good results.

“We believe that the coach with his two staff members will positively impact our programme and we have a portfolio responsibility that is second to none, because he will have a lot of work to do from grassroots, to talent identification, to development. It’s a holistic approach and we are definitely expecting very positive results,” Ricketts said.

He is optimistic that the deal that the JFF recently signed with Adidas along with help from FIFA will enable the JFF to foot the bill to pay Hallgrimsson and his team. The Adidas deal starts in January when Hallgrimsson will also be fully functional.

The island’s national footballers’ dismal performances have turned away fans and according to Chung, the new JFF will seek to re-engage this critical component of the programme – which also ties in with corporate Jamaica – by operating transparently. He said the signs of improvement with the fans are showing.

“The reception has been great from individuals out there. I mean, of course, you have your one and two detractors, you will always have that in anything you do, but the general response has been very good from persons,” Chung said.

What if all this is done and Hallgrimsson fails to get the Reggae Boyz to the World Cup?

“Well, if that doesn’t happen, we would be very disappointed because we have started an investment in this regard, by of course engaging a coach, who we think has the skills and the knowledge to take us to the World Cup in 2026, so we’d be very disappointed if it doesn’t happen, but so far, he has assured us that he will be giving it his best shot,” Ricketts said.