Nodley Wright, Freelance Writer
Prendergast
PRESIDENT OF the Jamaica Football Referees Association (JFRA) and the country's top referee, Peter Prendergast, could be back to full fitness in another week.
The 42-year-old, one of the original 23 referees to make the cut to officiate in the recently- concluded 2006 football World Cup in Germany, was unable to do duties at the tournament as he picked up an injury just days before the start.
He had surgery on June 1, and has been recuperating since.
"At the end of the week I will do a fitness test to see where I am at. Normally I would do one every Friday but this week will be my first one since the operation," said Prendergast, who has been running but has not yet 'gone full blast'.
RECOVERY TIME
"The recovery time for me to get back to full fitness was six weeks which should have been expired by now," Prendergast told The Gleaner yesterday adding that, "full recovery is of course dependent on post-operational therapy."
The surgery, said Prendergast, who would have been officiating in his second World Cup back to back, following his impressive display in South Korea/Japan 2002, was to repair "a horizontal and vertical cleavage tear of the meniscus in the right knee."
"The surgery was done three days after the problem was discovered. I was flown to Zurich by FIFA to have the surgery, which involved the removal of
the damaged area, a third of
the meniscus, done," explained Prendergast.
All his medical expenses he said were covered by football's world governing body.
Prendergast said he has had no ill-effects following the surgery and is looking forward to the start of the Wray and Nephew National Premier League which is scheduled to kick off during the second week of September.
