ADDICTION
Caribbean L BQ ife, Sept. 6, 2019 43
By George Alleyne
They brought pride to the
Caribbean by becoming the
first female team to make it
to a FIFA World Cup football
finals, and in in the process
inspired many a young player,
but the pathbreaking Jamaica
Reggae Girlz are now suffering
the indignity of a pay dispute.
As of Sept. 2 the Girlz have
not received a cent in payment
since their historic entry
and participation in the FIFA
Women’s World Cup 2019 in
June, and they are now in
a public argument with the
Jamaica Football Federation
(JFF) and are threatening not
to play in the upcoming Olympic
qualifiers.
While explaining that the
money is yet to be received
from FIFA, JFF said it forwarded
out of its own funds
half of the cash owed to the
Girlz to their accounts on
Aug. 30, the date when full
payment was due, but usual
delays in bank processing have
caused them not to receive
their earnings yet.
“In our agreement, the
money was supposed to be
paid by Aug. 30 and today
is Sept. 2. So in any legal
contract, that is technically a
breach, and up to now, I have
not received any money at all,”
midfielder Laureen Silver told
the Gleaner newspaper.
The Observer newspaper
reported JFF General Secretary,
Dalton Wint, saying “No
one on the team, to my knowledge,
has been paid.”
“They might not have
received it, but we sent the
Girlz’ pay...remember, you
know, how the transfer money
is — some people will be seeing
it and some people will
not be seeing it, based on the
bank. But we have sent half
of the money from last week
to all the Girlz that are contracted,”
said Wint.
But with that 50 percent
pay being likely to clear bank
accounts by Sept. 3 onwards,
the JFF’s worries are not over
as the Girlz appear not willing
to budge until full amounts
due to them are handed over
to all of them.
That is potentially troublesome
for the cash-strapped
JFF as FIFA is set to forward
the funds on Sept. 30 but the
Caribbean phase of the Olympic
Qualifiers begin on that
date and runs to Oct. 8, which
means that the Girlz need to
be in training camp weeks
earlier.
“I am standing with my
teammates, and I will not be
participating if I get paid 50
percent, or even 100 per cent,
if other girls have not received
the money because it is not
fair for only some of us to be
paid and others aren’t,” Silver
said.
Jamaica will host Group B
of those qualifiers involving
Barbados, Cuba, St. Lucia, and
United States Virgin Islands.
Based on the Girlz’ performance
in France, the JFF
is reportedly to receive from
FIFA $750,000. It is unsure
how much of that money is
to be paid out to players and
what amount is to be retained
by the Federation.
Havana Solaun who scored the Girlz’, and Caribbean females’,
only World cup goal is among those awaiting payment.
FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019
Reggae Girlz in messy pay dispute
with Jamaica Football Federation
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