‘No complaints’

THE JAMAICA Football Federation (JFF) says no member of the women’s World Cup team has complained about any discrepancy with the payments it said was made to them on Friday.

“No, none,” said JFF general secretary Dennis Chung when asked if he was aware of any discrepancies with the payments.

The JFF disclosed, in a public statement on Friday, that “as committed, we have now paid in full, balances due to the Women’s World Cup Team”.

Further, the JFF said it will begin the processing of payments to all players who played in the qualifying rounds, but were not in the final World Cup squad.

“We are always grateful for the contribution made by all our players and are happy that we have been able to settle these outstanding amounts,” the statement said.

The federation said its immediate focus is on supporting the new-look Senior Reggae Girlz, who are down to face Guatemala at the National Stadium on Sunday in the second game of the Concacaf Women’s Gold Cup qualifiers.

Captain of Jamaica’s senior women’s team Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw and other members of the team that created history by qualifying for the knock-out stage of this year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup, withdrew themselves from consideration for the Gold Cup qualifiers over differences with the JFF.

Among the issues was the non-payment for their performances at the World Cup and “numerous outstanding bonuses for qualifying in the summer of [20]22”, they said in a statement posted on social media.

The standoff has gained international attention amid perceived inequalities between female athletes and their male counterparts.

livern.barrett@gleanerjm.com