Audley Boyd, Assistant Sport Editor

Captain Horace Burrell gets across a point during yesterday's press conference at the Jamaica Football Federation's headquarters in New Kingston. - Peta-Gaye Clachar/Staff Photographer

PRELIMINARY estimates of the newly-installed Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) board calculate its debts at a staggering $77.5 million, president Captain Horace Burrell revealed at a press conference yesterday.

The disclosure was made at a press conference at JFF head-quarters in New Kingston following a near six-hour board meeting at which Burrell also announced a unanimous decision had been reached regarding technical director Velibor 'Bora' Milutinovic.

He also announced the suspension of the women's national training programmes for the Under-19 and senior teams which begin competition this month; the lifting of a two-year ban on English-based Reggae Boy Marlon King with immediate effect; the resumption of the Cash Plus Premier League on Sunday and also confirmed a friendly international against Guatemala at 'The Office' on Sunday, November 21.

Preliminary report

News of the JFF debt and Bora's status dominated the question-and-answer segment.

"It's a preliminary report ... we're going to do some more investi-gations," said the federation's new treasurer, Gary Sinclair.

Sinclair said payables stood at $83.4 million, which included a long-outstanding loan to Burrell ($15 million) and $7 million in bank overdrafts, against receivables of $27.7 million.

The treasurer, a new man to football, admitted that payables included salary amounts totalling $23.9 million now owing to Milutinovic, $22.5 million to the English FA for tickets sold for a match in England last November that were not paid over, statutory deductions totalling $16.4 million ($9 million for PAYE), and $13.2 million which includes debts to parish associations, premier league clubs ($5 million) and other sundries.

Financial dilemma

Of the monies owing to Milutinovic for this year's salary, the federation says it got assurances from the Government that it would pay up the $250,000 commitment, but saw no record in any JFF account of the remaining $88,000 that had been received from its partners, but not paid to the technical director, whose salary is due on November 15.

Leighton McKnight, chairman of the financial committee, said they are in a "financial dilemma" and "... will have to find ways to come out of a very deep hole."

Burrell said: "I'm so baffled at this time. It's incredible that this can be so having heard these revelations of profitability all this time on the radio, television and in the newspapers. The situation that the JFF is in now is simply frightening".

However, Rudolph Speid, who had been the JFF treasurer from February 2005 until Sunday when Burrell's team took over, defended the financials, which were published in The Sunday Gleaner.

He said: "When I came, the JFF was $43 million in the red.