Spectators scurrying from the stands at the Harbour View Mini Stadium earlier this year after shots rang out during the Jackie Bell KO final between Harbour View and Waterhouse. - file

THE Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) will strike hard against indiscipline in the upcoming National Premier League season.

Clubs which fail to turn up for matches without good reason and whose spectators disrupt matches will be hardest hit.

In a release yesterday, the JFF said clubs which fail to turn up for matches during the 2008-2009 National Premier League football season will have to dig deep into their pockets.

That decision was among a number ratified by a board meeting at the offices of the JFF on Wednesday. Under the new rule if a team fails to show up for a match, except in cases of force majeure (act of God) recognised by the JFF competitions committee or leaves a Stadium before a match is completed, then the team will be deemed to have lost the match by a margin of 0-3.

In the case of abandonment, a higher margin of victory may be awarded to the winning team if they had already reached that score prior to the guilty team's leaving the field. A fine of $50,000 will also be slapped on the club.

The guilty club will also be docked a further six points, pay the compensation for any damages or losses suffered by the other club and 'by the JFF to a maximum of $75,000' in addition to facing the possibility of being referred to the complaints and disciplinary committee for further actions to be taken.

Clubs which fail to control their supporters will also bear a heavier financial burden in the upcoming season. Lack of discipline and order at a venue before, during and after a match in the form of attempted invasions by spec-tators, missile throwing and other incidents, will attract fines ranging from a minimum of $100,000 to a maximum of $200,000. A repeat occurrence will see the team banned for 12 months and fined a minimum of $200,000.

Tightening of the operations relating to the League will also include a zero-tolerance approach to teams which fail to meet the August 4, 2008, deadline for the entry fee of $50,000 to be paid for the competition which begins on August 31, 2008.

The board agreed that decisions taken by the JFF competitions' committee are subject to appeal unless otherwise stated in the regulations governing the competition.

A new fee structure governing the transfer of players was also decided.

Jamaica Football Federation president, Captain Horace Burrell - file