BOXHILL

The embattled president of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), Crenston Boxhill, remains firm amidst more pressure for him to step down after the Reggae Boyz' latest debacle.

The Boyz crashed out of the 2006/07 Digicel Caribbean Cup after failing narrowly to advance from the four-team Group D first round tournament hosted by Jamaica.

Boxhill, who has been under constant pressure for the last two years to resign, said that doesn't bother him one bit.

"In terms of detractors calling for my head, that's not the part that bothers me. The part that bothers me is when you don't get value for money," Boxhill told The Gleaner, yesterday.

He continued: "The performance of the team must be of concern, especially when you try to put everything in place and you don't get the results."

Boxhill, who took office with a narrow victory in a bitterly fought election over Captain Horace Burrell in 2003, said despite the setbacks, the programme was still moving forward.

"We are still going ahead. We still have the Under-17 team and I am very confident that we will qualify for the World Cup and the women's team is doing quite well," he pointed out.

"I think in due time with the sorting out of the technical staff, it will be just a matter of time before the senior team's performances improve," he added.

"I am not going to pin point any coaching errors because I was not certain of the instructions that were given. But I figured that errors were made throughout the tournament and it has to be addressed whether by the coaching staff or the players," he continued.

Booed

On Friday, the fans booed the Reggae Boyz for their lacklustre performance and even cheered the St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) team, which won 2-1.

Boxhill pointed out that supporters are just like that.

"Fans are like this throughout the world and if they figure you are doing poorly they are going to let you know. Against SVG the team played poorly and the fans made no bones about it.

"But if you were at the stadium yesterday (Sunday), especially throughout the first half, these were the same fans that were cheering for them. They were satisfied and were being entertained. These were the same fans that even booed the team when they came out," the president reiterated.

Jamaica will next play Canada in an international friendly, on October 8, at the National Stadium.

- H.W.