Veteran coaches urge JFF to bring World Cup rule changes into local football

Two experienced Jamaican coaches, Donovan Duckie and Andrew Price, are pressing the Jamaica Football Federation to move without delay on several new FIFA regulations already in force at the FIFA World Cup now under way across the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Among the reforms are on-field five-second clocks for throw-ins and goal kicks, an eight-second cap on how long a goalkeeper may hold the ball after a catch, a 10-second window for substitutions, tougher sanctions when players or officials leave the pitch to challenge refereeing calls, and a compulsory 60-second medical absence for outfield players who take treatment before they may rejoin play.

FIFA’s intent is to curb stalling, raise the share of time the ball is in play, and keep matches moving more smoothly.

Duckie, who leads Jamaica Premier League side Waterhouse FC, believes the package would lift the standard of domestic football.

“I have never seen a technical report on the Jamaica Premier League that speaks to time-wasting and an average amount of minutes that are played per game, but I would have seen the FIFA technical study one, and what it speaks to is, a lot of time-wasting is evident around the leagues and around the world. And FIFA wants to bring in rules that enhances more time playing on the field and lessen the time-wasting ploys,” said Duckie.

He argued that the same framework would deliver a livelier spectacle for those who play and those who watch.

“I feel that this will be good for our league because we will get more football and less stoppages. I think that this is something that the governing body for football of the country should implement; and what we will have to do is initiate it now, because if it is not done now, then it has to be done early so that everybody can acclimatise themselves to the rules.”

Duckie stressed that Jamaica cannot afford to lag behind global trends if the sport is to keep advancing at home.

“Our football can only grow from this because … listen, it is no disrespecting to ourselves as a Third-World nation … but the football is way more advanced in other parts of the world, and trends are being created. Things are always being taken into perspective,” he said. “I know that FIFA as a department has done a lot of studies and I think that they have done a good job. And in order to improve our football so it is aligned with international standards, then this is something that we have to implement.”

Price, newly named head coach at Tivoli Gardens, likewise backed the reforms and said their arrival in club football is inevitable.

“Once something is done at the World Cup, it will move from the World Cup to the confederations and then the member nations. So I guarantee that all those rules that you saw in the World Cup will come to our local leagues and there is no if or maybe, because it will happen.”

In his view, the measures will cut gamesmanship and push the tempo higher.

“It is good because what it does, it speeds up the game, because too often people do a lot of time-wasting to slow down the game and slow down the momentum,” Price said. “So many times in the World Cup, we see people getting fouls and they normally lay down and wait on people to come. But what we are seeing now is people getting up and getting back on the field because they don’t want to play a man short. So it encourages play-acting to stop, and it also encourages the speed of play; and so I have no problems with it being brought to our local leagues.”

He added that fans stand to gain from a brisker contest.

“It will be good for our football because there is a lot of time-wasting that takes place in local games. A lot of times people have the ball to kick out and they take a very long time to kick out the ball, and it delays the game, and it is also not good for spectators, who are watching the game and looking for excitement from the game. And so what it does is speed up the game and increase the integrity of the game.”

Owen Hill, chief executive of Professional Football Jamaica Limited (PFJL), also endorsed the direction FIFA has taken, calling the updates constructive.

“Yes, I definitely think that these are innovative rules, and it obviously protects the integrity of the game; and you want to make sure that you limit the amount of gamesmanship that is executed throughout that gives any one team an advantage. So I actually think it is a good innovation, and I think I would advocate for it to become a part of the rules and regulations that govern professional football in Jamaica,” Hill said.

He argued that Jamaica, as a leading Caribbean football country, ought to mirror proven international practice.

“I think that we should be leading in that regard because our country has the number-one league in the Caribbean when it comes on to performance. And if it is that from a policy perspective, it will always add value when it comes on to best practices, and FIFA has already implemented, then I don’t see why we shouldn’t review it internally and follow suit once it makes sense for us,” he said.

Hill noted that competition rules are already under examination, which could make this an opportune moment.

“I think it is timely because we are now in the early throes of trying to determine what the regulations are, so it could be an interesting time to review and implement. But that is a competition’s committee discussion. But from a stakeholder’s standpoint, I think it is something worth reviewing, and so I am an advocate for it,” Hill said.