(Jamaica Gleaner) FORMER NATIONAL footballer Aldrick ‘Allie’ McNab is concerned about the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Caribbean’s football development.
The coronavirus has caused the postponement, suspension, and cancellation of a number of sporting events across the world, including the Olympic Games, now moved from this summer to July 2021, and a number of football leagues around the world, including the local Red Stripe Premier League.
“It is crippling football throughout the world, and Jamaica is no different. What makes it so devastating for us is the fact that we are a footballing country,” McNab said.
“Football is the biggest sport throughout the Caribbean, so when you are not having people playing, the entertainment value is lost, and the developmental value is lost to the youngsters.
“For some years now, football in Jamaica has been an industry where people earn; therefore, people are not earning and it affects our national programme.
“It is a good thing that FIFA has said that they are holding the rankings, because rankings are very important to a country like ours.”
McNab, an adviser to Sport Minister Olivia Grange, said that the stakeholders need to figure out a way to resume the various leagues across the island once the coronavirus has been brought under control. “The way forward is coordination, because the JFF (Jamaica Football Federation), ISSA (Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association) and all the Premier League people need to come together and figure out how to do an abbreviated version of a season, so that the season isn’t lost,” he said. “I think that is very important because we need to play some football because we can’t take away hope from people.”
McNab was a member of the Boys’ Town team that won three titles, including the National Premier League, in the 1983-84 season.
He was also inducted into the Caribbean Sports Hall of Fame in 2012.