Lucky call for JFF - Local body inks three-year deal with Digicel

BY SEAN A WILLIAMS Assistant Sport Editor

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

THOUGH there was no actual figure, Digicel and the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) yesterday announced a "substantial" partnership that is expected to go a long way in developing the national football programme.

At a press function at the Federation's office in New Kingston, neither Digicel's top man in Jamaica, Mark Linehan, nor JFF president Captain Horace Burrell, was prepared to disclose the sum involved in the new three-year arrangement.

The only thing that was on the money yesterday is that critically, the cellphone giant's cash is earmarked to support the Reggae Boyz programme for the Brazil 2014 World Cup campaign, coupled with significant investment in the Men's Under-17, Under-20 and Under-23 development schedules.

Apart from assisting in staging games and training camps at home and abroad for all these teams during the life of the deal, Digicel has vowed to take the journey with each squad with innovative and colourful promotional campaigns as they chase success on the global stage.

Digicel, the major player in the cellphone market in Jamaica, has partnered with the national football programme since 2003, and while it maintained an enduring desire to continue the relationship, it took thoughtful and incisive negotiations in hammering out the new deal.

"The contract came up for renewal last year and we have been in negotiations with the captain and general secretary Horace Reid.

"This arrangement also has us supporting the youth teams, so we are not just about the senior team, but also the development of the young players coming up...," said Linehan yesterday.

The Digicel executive said while he appreciates people wanting to know what the sum involved is, he declined to do so saying we never publicly state the amount and we are not going to change with that.

"There is an amount that I think will give the JFF a great opportunity to develop football in Jamaica," was all Linehan was prepared to say.

Burrell, delighted with finally pinning down another Platinum sponsor, noted that Digicel was wise in its decision to partner yet again with the country's most popular sport.

"There is no better vehicle for Digicel or any other corporate sponsor to get their message out, so I must say that Mark Linehan and his company were wise in choosing to continue with football at this level," he said.

"Money is needed as we have to do the training camps and the overseas tours, so we are very happy that we have been able to land this sponsorship at a very crucial time.

"I am really looking forward to this partnership with great enthusiasm and excitment as it's not easy to get big sponsors in this tough economic environment," Burrell added.

The football boss, who also serves on CONCACAF's executive committee, said careful thought and patience went into the decision to settle with Digicel as the JFF was adamant to get the best possible deal for the programme and which would be of great benefit to the players.

"There are many people out there who were showing interest, but we waiting to get the best and today we have the best with Digicel who has been a longstanding friend of football," said Burrell, who was recently appointed to FIFA's Olympic Organisation Committee for Football Tournaments.

"It won't do everything, but I must say that it will be a big boost to our budget to assist with our programmes," he said of Digicel undisclosed commitment.

The sponsorship will start with the Reggae Boyz friendly international games against Cuba here on February 22 and 24.

Digicel formerly sponsored the Premier League and is currently in negotiations with the CFU to continue as title sponsor of the Caribbean Cup. It also invests large sums into an islandwide grassroots programme, to name a few of its football projects.

"Football gets right into the minds and hearts of people all accross the world, there is football mania and there is great support for football in Jamaica and we feel it's a great partnership with the JFF in particular and football general," said Lineham, explaining the reason behind his company enormous support for football.

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Lucky call for JFF - Local body inks three-year deal with Digicel