Captain Burrell
SERIOUS QUESTIONS are being fired this week at The Jamaica Football Federation, as Maurice "Ranger" Walker explores the issues of an increase in ticket costs for matches held at "the office".
In his weekly sports column on www.Go-kingston.com 'the Ranger' demands an answer to questions such as "how much profit is enough for the JFF and why aren't the bills being paid at the National Stadium?
Here is a short preview of the interesting 'interrogation'...
...The Captain has said that as a consequence of being forced to sell fewer tickets, he has had to increase the admission cost. Also given as reasons, were increased costs, such as additional security and increased rental fees for the Stadium, which has gone up from $0.7 M to $1.5M (an increase of 214 per cent).
Firstly, the Captain is now admitting that the Stadium was being over-sold on previous occasions, something that the Federation had strongly denied in the past. But as a patron, it did not take rocket science to observe the obvious overcrowding signs. Long before that well publicised stampeded and massacre in Johannesburg, South Africa, fans have been expressing concerns about the possibility of a catastrophe at "the office."
Secondly, the gross profit for one of those overcrowded games have not been public, as the Captain has refused to reveal that information. This means that we do not know the difference in profit for a capacity stadium and an overcrowded one. What we know is that at two-thirds capacity, the JFF should still make a tidy net profit. This now begs the question - how much profit is enough?
...Why is it we always hear about airfares to travel when it is said that we only pay departure tax? Isn't there a substantial American Airline sponsorship package? One would have expected to hear of million-dollar costs for security, only to be told that it is $300,000.
...The JFF, more than anyone else should realise that two thirds of the fans at these games are 'waggonists' oriented, so if they force away and turn off the die-hard supporters, they will soon be back to the days when 100 fans turned up for a game. The support that the JFF now gets cannot be sustained at these rates of continuous increase.
You won't want to miss the full length of this penetrating piece of inquiry. Indeed, you may well want to contribute to the discussion. Send us your views as well as your community news items at news @go-localjamaica.com
