‘Skill’ knocks football development

Football icon Allan 'Skill' Cole has chastised successive administrations in the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) for failing to develop a programme to ensure the island returned to the World Cup following their debut in France in 1998.

The former national player and coach is saddened thinking about the situation, especially as other debutants like Japan, whom Jamaica had defeated in that tournament, have since become a mainstay.

Cole, a midfield maestro during his playing days, was adamant that Jamaica has not returned to the World Cup because of a lack of talent.

Cole emphasised earlier this week in an interview with STAR Sports that the root cause of the situation is a lack of youth development.

"We need to get some of these players under a banner where we prepare them for the future, the under-16s, the under-17s. So you say, 'These are the set of players we have here, and they're talented'. What do you do? You prepare them for the World Cup in four years," he said.

Cole suggested that authorities in local football must follow in the footsteps of their counterparts in athletics if they wish to return to the biggest stage.

"We need a proper programme because we can go to the world stage, enuh," a hopeful Cole shared.

"Athletics show us that we can get there, and that is because they have a good programme. We don't have a programme where we can sustain these players after they leave school, and that is sad because so many talents have gone astray," he added.

If re-elected to office following this Sunday's presidential elections, incumbent Michael Ricketts said this week that youth development in football is a top priority for his administration ahead of the next World Cup in 2026.

He was speaking at the Wembley Centre of Excellence in Clarendon, where he launched his manifesto outlining a budget of US$1.9 million (J$290m) for the nation's football over the next four years.