By Nodley Wright, Freelance WriterTHE INACTIVITY of national midfielder Keith Kelly at the club level will soon be coming to an end, as the international clearance on which he was waiting has arrived from France.
General Secretary of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), Horace Reid, yesterday confirmed his organisation had received the player's international clearance from the French Federation.
"Yes it (the international clearance) came in. It could have been yesterday (Tuesday) or the day before (Monday)," Reid said.
Reid added that how early the player takes to the field for his club is dependent on the JFF's competition's department.
"As long as the competitions department determines that all the paperwork is in order in terms of registration and so on, then I suppose he should be eligible to play for his club," said Reid before pointing The Gleaner to director of competitions, Burchell Gibson.
Gibson however, passed back the ball of decision to Reid when he was contacted. At first saying that he could not comment on the matter, Gibson went on to say: "I take directives from the general secretary and the competitions committee to which I report."
Twenty-year-old Kelly only returned to Jamaica at the beginning of September from France where he was attached to the prestigious Paris Saint Germain Football Club.
Upon his return, he attempted to play in the local Wray and Nephew National Premier League for last year's beaten finalists Arnett Gardens, but was blocked as his former club Harbour View had also registered him to represent them for the September 14 start to the season.
The issue was brought before the JFF for arbitration late last month as Harbour View contended that since Kelly was released from PSG, he would revert to being their player.
That argument was disputed by Arnett Gardens and Christophe Henrotay, the agent who represents Kelly.
JFF ruled Kelly still belonged to Harbour View and both clubs agreed to a season-long loan for the player's services.
While Kelly completes close to a month of club inactivity, he should make a welcome return to competitive football for his country in a CONCACAF group Olympic qualifier against Cuba at the Tony Spaulding Sports Complex, home of Arnett Gardens, on Sunday.
