HOWARD WALKER, Staff Reporter
BURRELL
CAPTAIN HORACE BURRELL, senior vice-president of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU), has made it absolutely clear he will be gunning for the presidency of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) when elections are due next year.
"That's nothing new. I am making it abundantly clear so that when the time comes, I don't want to hear that I am undermining anybody," Burrell told THE STAR yesterday.
He continued: "I have one purpose and that is to help football in the country, that is why I have announced it early. Everyone will hear from me."
Captain Burrell has been largely credited with Jamaica's successful campaign which led to the Reggae Boyz' historic qualification to the 1998 World Cup Finals in France.
During his reign, two other national youth teams qualified for World Cup Finals - the Under-17 in 1999 in New Zealand and the Under-20s two years later in Argentina.
He was president of the JFF for nine years ruling the roost from 1994 to 2003 before he was unceremoniously ousted by the Crenston-Boxhill led administration.
"I felt I was removed at a time when I had the ability to do more for football in the country," said Burrell, now an executive member of CONCACAF and a member of FIFA's Disciplinary Committee.
There have been two failed attempts - via a no-confidence vote - to unseat the Boxhill administration, the latest being on January 15 at the JFF's non-voting Congress.
The no-confidence motion, which was brought to the floor by Sheridan Samuels, the vice-chairman of the JFF Western Confederation, got the support of the majority of the delegates by a close 53-51 margin, but that was well short of the two-thirds (70) of the 104 votes needed constitutionally for the motion to be successful.
In the first attempt, the no-confidence motion failed to get off the ground. On both occasions the people behind the failed attempt were said to be Burrell loyalists.
But the fact that more delegates in January voted against the Boxhill administration is a clear indicator, which might have given Burrell confidence.
When quizzed about how confident he was of defeating the Boxhill-led administration, Burrell kept his cards close to his chest.
"I know what I am doing and I am leaving it up to the delegates," said Burrell.
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