By LeVaughn Flynn, Staff Reporter
FIFA president Joseph 'Sepp' Blatter, breaks ground for a football academy and training centre in Portmore during a ceremony yesterday. A gleeful Captain Horace Burrell (centre), president of the Jamaica Football Federation, and Marjorie Campbell, general manager of Urban Development Corporation (UDC) look on. - Ricardo Makyn/ Staff Photographer
JOSEPH 'SEPP' Blatter, president of FIFA (Federation of International Football Associations), broke ground at the site for the National Football Academy and Training Centre yesterday at the Portmore Town Centre, making Jamaica the 22nd Caribbean country to benefit from the FIFA Goal Project.
Blatter, who was accompanied by Confederation of North, Central America and the Caribbean Associations of Football (CONCACAF) president and FIFA vice-president Austin 'Jack' Warner, highlighted the importance of having such an academy in each of the 204 nations affiliated to FIFA and marked this day as a historic moment in the development of football in Jamaica.
"What we are doing today is for the future of the country and for the country to use," said Blatter at the ground-breaking ceremony. "Football can use it as the school of life. The philosophy of football is not only kicking the ball. The philosophy of football is to offer hope to the population of the world, and through hope and a little faith then you will produce," Blatter proclaimed.
The first phase of the project is estimated to cost US$600,000 with the FIFA Goal Project providing US$400,000 and the remaining US$200,000 coming from the FIFA Financial Assistance Programme (FAP), which is an annual grant given to the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF).
"Ultimately, the project, which will be constructed in phases, will cost an approximate US$10.5 million," said Keith Look Loy, FIFA's development officer for CONCACAF.
He added: "The first phase is what is called the academy and what FIFA will do is provide a security fence, one-and-a-half fields for training and a dormitory with 24 rooms.
"The second phase will constitute what is called the office complex, which will house the technical directorate, the gymnasium and classrooms. The third phase will be a mini-stadium which (initially) will seat about 3,000 people but ultimately will be taken to about 6,000 people."
Along with the football academy, four basketball courts, a combined football and cricket pitch and an urban park will form a sports complex for the municipality of Portmore. The land was leased to the JFF for a 50-year period at $100 annually and the academy will cover six acres of the 26-acre property.
The construction period is expected to take about eight months but before work begins Look Loy said there are certain protocols to follow.
"First of all, we have to ensure that the land is formally passed over by the way of the lease and, secondly, we have to complete the process of contracting the UDC to do the work and to manage the project from the Jamaica end and once we have done that then I fully expect that by the end of January, early February, we should be well under way with the work," Look Loy said.
Mayor of Portmore George Lee welcomed the academy to Portmore and expounded on the many spin-offs that could be generated.
"This is a great day for Portmore because not only will it provide training and exercise, but it will provide the opportunity for added sports in Portmore. St. Catherine has more youths than any other parish, and Portmore has more youths than any other area in St. Catherine, so this will open many avenues and, therefore, I really welcome it," he said.
