By Nodley Wright, Freelance WriterAFTER FAILING to meet two deadlines to produce a sum of $500,000 in order to retake possession of the Invaders Football Club, the Bunkers Hill community of Trelawny will today know whether they still have a claim to ownership.
The Trelawny community is seeking to regain possession of the club which was bought by Montego Bay company Global Entertainment in May. This was after the previous executive decided that it could no longer bear the financial burden of supporting a Premier League club.
Resulting from the sale a protest was launched by the community which took the matter to the Trelawny FA which in turn took the matter to the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF).
In a meeting held two weeks ago by a new executive comprising people from the Bunkers Hill community, the JFF ruled that it had to hand over a sum of $500,000 to the Trelawny FA to be paid back to Global Entertainment.
PAID SOME MONEY
At 5:20 yesterday afternoon, Linnel McLean president of the Trelawny FA told The Gleaner that representatives of the Bunkers Hill community had handed over a portion of the money and were requesting more time.
"They paid over some money and asked for extra time. I will be calling the JFF to see if that is allowed," McLean said.
The sum handed over was $250,000. According to McLean, the representatives claim they have commitments for the rest of the money but were unable to get it at the time.
When contacted about a further extension, acting general secretary of the JFF, Burchell Gibson, said the decision was not his to make.
"That is not for me to decide. The president of the Trelawny FA will make a report on the situation to me before Monday and I will make a report to the competitions committee which will convene on Monday to make a decision," Gibson explained.
If the Bunkers Hill community manages somehow to dodge this bullet, it will have another waiting it on July 30 when it will have to demonstrate to the JFF that it is "able to put a proper executive in place and show that it has the financial backing to support the club for the season", Gibson said.
