Burrell

Howard Walker, Staff Reporter

THE JAMAICA Football Federation (JFF) said it will finally pay the $14.9 million owed to Captain's Bakery Limited, but Captain Horace Burrell is not amused.

In January 2004, Burrell, a former JFF president, rocked the Crenston Boxhill administration with a letter stating how the $14.9 million owed to him must be repaid by March 31 that year.

At the time, Boxhill said he and his administration were surprised at the request and said it contradicted prior repayment arrangements.

However, Burrell's demands never materialised and now, three years later, the JFF has decided to make the money tenable to the Captain's Bakery Limited, two months before the Voting Congress in November.

Rudolph Speid, the JFF treasurer, told The Gleaner that "at the start of September the JFF will be paying back the money owed to Burrell over an eight-month period.

"Payments of up to US$30,000 will be paid, he was informed and accepted," said Speid.

But Burrell is livid over the manner in which the repayment was dealt with and length of time taken.

"I am very disappointed with the approach taken by the JFF regarding the payment of this loan which was given to the JFF at a time when it was most needed," Burrell said.

According to Burrell, he is bitter because at the time when he assisted with the loan, "there was no money coming from anywhere and we were faced with the dilemma of suspending our programmes or obtaining a loan to carry on the business of the federation.

Asked to assist

"At numerous executive meetings we brainstormed, thinking of sources of income and when all avenues failed, the executive asked me to assist. I was hesitant, but they insisted that it was necessary for me to assist because they did not wish for the federation to withdraw from any competition," he said.

"They did not want to seek outside loans and without wanting to mortgage the offices, the executives felt we should try and, in good faith as the president at the time, I decided to help on the unanimous request of the committee, including Crenston Boxhill, who was the then chairman of the South Central committee.

"One of the main architects was Boxhill, and when I was convinced by the committee's pleading to assist, he was the most vocal and thankful.

"I provided an unsecured loan because I knew that during the World Cup qualifiers funding would have come in and I could have been repaid.

"If someone had told me that this would have happened, I would have told them that (a loan) is not possible."

howard.walker@gleanerjm.com