Livingston Scott/Gleaner Writer PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL JamaicaLimited(PFJL)chairman, ChristopherWilliams, says it would lead to a ‘financial disaster’ if theJamaica Premier League (JPL) continued trying to host spectators, after their initial effort at DraxHall failed miserably last weekend. The PFJL recently received government approval to have spectators at JPL matches for the first time since football resumed last June. However, Williams said a faulty ticketing system, cost of renting venues and stringent COVID-19 measures made hosting spectators unsustainable. As a result, instead of Sabina Park this weekend, games will return to the UWI-JFF Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence and will only cater for a television audience. Williams said they will be writing to the Government with the hope that the PFJL will be allowed to validate the vaccination status of fans at the gate to make spectator access much easier, and to get more community football venues approved in order to lower cost. “We will be going back to the Captain Horace Burrell Centre and we need to go back to the drawing board to see how we can find the balance between the protocols and the approved venues,” Williams told The Gleaner. “The protocols are significantly constrainingandmyboardwouldnot allow itself tobe exposed to any financial losses. “The existing venues that have been approved along with a ticketing system, the vaccinationneed and the fewnumbers in the stands, is a recipe for financial disaster and we cannot take that on. “So to keep our cost down we will be going back to the Captain Horace Burrell Centre with television only and we will continue to lobby the Government for some adjustments, either to the protocols, the venues or the ticketing system but somethinghas tobe adjusted,”he insisted. DETERRING FANS The online ticketing, which he argues unfairly charges 10 per cent of game receipts, is too difficult to manoeuvre and turns away many potential fans. At last weekend’s round of games at Drax Hall many fans turned up with vaccination cards but were unable to gain access to the venues and he believes it would be much easier if they were given the permit to validate the fans. “The people are not going online to go through those many steps, and for those who did the system broke down. “So it is too much to ask these consumers. Remember that we need their money and it seems as if they are begging us to come to the matches. “They have to give us an easier system where they trust us as promoters to validate the vaccination. “Why should we have to go through so much red tape. Trust us. We are decent, upstanding citizens. We can validate the vaccination and let in the people and collect their money. Just allow us to validate,” he reasoned. He also believes that returning the matches to the communities will be far cheaper than the current approved venues, which include the National Stadium, Sabina Park and Drax Hall. “They have to give us cheaper venues. We are locked into the most expensive venues, so we are just working for the venues. “Give us a wider choice of venues because most of these (approved) venues are booked and we can’t get them and the cost is ridiculous. “Open up Arnett Gardens, Waterhouse, Humble Lion and those are the people you want to get vaccinated anyway, so why don’t you put the matches there and entice the people to get vaccinated,” he said. He added they hewould be dispatching a letter with his requests. He also wants the 10 per cent fee attached to the faulty ticketing system removed. “When we lose money, we alone suffer the loss. The 10 per cent fee to the ticketing system is unjust. So we need to change it or get rid of this ticketing system,” he stated. livingston.scott@gleanerjm.com Tivoli Gardens hunt back-to-back wins Livingston Scott/Gleaner Writer FOLLOWING THEIR first win of the Jamaica Premier League (JPL) season last weekend, Tivoli Gardens (TG) coach, Philip Williams, is hoping to continue in the same vein when they oppose Mount Pleasant in today’s feature match at the UWI-JFF Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence. Kickoff time is 3:15 p.m. In the opening match of the doubleheader at 1 p.m., Waterhouse entertain Harbour View. Tivoli have one win, three draws and two defeats in their six matches and Williams thinks this will be their toughest test to date. Although confident of matching up to the league leaders, he believes they have to improve in front of goal to claim a second successive win. “Our confidence has improved since getting the first win,” he said. “When we look back at earlier games, we see that they have been very close and we haven’t been losing badly. “We are confident and it is just a matter of getting things right in the final third. We will be competitive. In our games before the last one, we got a lot of chances. We were able to convert one in our last game and fortunately that turned out to be the winner. “We have been good in defence but at the business end, we need to get more in terms of converting the chances. We want another striker as productive or nearly as productive as a young Warner Brown,” he stated. He said the Mount Pleasant squad is deep, strong and plays good football and they cannot allow the St Ann-based team to settle into their game. “We cannot allow them to get comfortable. We will have to press them all over the pitch. That will take a lot of concentration but we are up to the task, so hopefully the guys will turn up on the day. “Another win could take us up the table, so we are not looking behind us. We want to put a couple of wins together andmove away from the bottompack and put ourselves in a better position,”he said. Mount Pleasant coach, Wally Downes, said although the west Kingston-based Tivoli Gardens didn’t have the best start to the season, he believes they are improving with every game and will give them the respect they deserve. “We know they are very mobile and very physical. We will have to be at our best. We will have to be strong and clinical and take the game to them. “We need to play our game. Take control from early, dominate the territory and make sure that when those chances come along, we put them away,” he said. Mount Pleasant lead the table with 17 points, while Tivoli are in eighth spot with six points. In the opening match, second-place Waterhouse (14)willbehuntingtheir firstwin in three games when they face off against sixth-placeHarbourView (ninepoints). livingston.scott@gleanerjm.com SATURDAY, MARCH 5, 2022 SECTION B www.jamaica-gleaner.com • #GLNRSPORTS Mount Pleasant fans celebrate an Allan Ottey goal during the team’s top-of-thetable Jamaica Premier League clash against Waterhouse at the Drax Hall Sports Complex last weekend. KENYON HEMANS/ PHOTOGRAPHER WILLIAMS Tivoli Gardens coach Philip Williams RICARDO MAKYN/CHIEF PHOTO EDITOR Williams: The protocols are significantly constraining and my board would not allow itself to be exposed to any financial losses BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD Mount Pleasant’s head coach Downes GLADSTONETAYLOR/MULTIMEDIAPHOTOEDITOR Warner Brown of Tivoli Gardens NICHOLAS NUNES/PHOTOGRAPHER 4 3 9 9 22 10 12 17 20 22 1 12 13 15 17 7 11 13 15 17 18 19 13 15 1 7 6 7 13 Winners $1,369 ea. No Winner 1 Winner $800,000 No Winner No Winner 1 Winner $200,000 16 Winners $1,045 ea. 293 Winners $200 ea. 262 Winners $217 ea. 31 Winners $1,000 ea. 467 Winners $200 ea. 26 Winners $1,062 ea. 417 Winners $212 ea. 45 Winners $1,261 ea. 1,028 Winners $200 ea. 22 32 11 6 23 4 9 14 24 26 0 1 5 8 3 4 8 8 4 1 8 8 4 8 1 2 8 14 20 $800,000 1 Winner $800,000 80 Winners $637 ea. 1,144 Winners $80 ea. 21 5 12 21 22 31 34 35 2 3 22 4 7 10 21 28 33 6 3 22 No Winner No Winner 6 Winners $8,510 ea. 6 Winners $1,089 ea. 194 Winners $246 ea. 2,640 Winners $100 ea. $33,000,000 3 1 2 4 4 5 8 0 7 8 1 9 5 9 0 1 3 7 9 9 $307,000,000 5, 7, 11, 15, 16, 22, 27, 30, 31, 32, 33, 33, 35 4, 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 18, 21, 29, 30, 31, 32 4, 9, 10, 13, 15, 16, 19, 23, 26, 30, 34, 35 2, 3, 4, 11, 14, 16, 18, 30, 32, 34, 35, 36 8, 11, 12, 17, 19, 26, 28, 29, 31, 33, 35, 36 10 M 16 16 13 10 19 W W W M W 10 M 10 W 3 W 11 W 14 M W 13
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