Burrell

Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) president, Captain Horace Burrell, will be facing a challenge for the position he now holds as a member of the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Associations of Football (CONCACAF) Executive Committee.

Burrell, who has been serving on the eight-member CONCACAF Executive for the past six years, will face off in elections at the CONCACAF Congress on Monday, June 1, in The Bahamas against Peter Jenkins, who recently lost his post as president of the St Kitts and Nevis Football Association.

Jenkins currently serves on CONCACAF's Legal and Statutes Committee, a position he has held since 2006. Only recently, he was cleared to continue serving on that body through to 2011.

Burrell, however, strongly believes he will beat off Jenkins' challenge for the executive position at the elections.

"I'm very confident I will get the full backing of my colleagues in the Caribbean and North and Central America," he told The Gleaner in an interview yesterday.

He added: "But we've to respect the process of democracy, and in any organisation individuals are going to aspire and mount challenges that must be respected and, therefore, I'm taking it in this vein.

"I've held this position for the past six years and I'm confident of getting the necessary support to retain my position," Burrell reiterated.

Satisfaction

The JFF president, who is also a vice-president of the Caribbean Football Union and FIFA official, numbers among three Caribbean men on the CONCACAF executive.

The others are Trinidadian Austin 'Jack' Warner, who has been president for 28 years, and Barbadian Lyle Austin, who has held the vice-president's position for the past 20 years.

Meanwhile, Burrell expressed satisfaction with news that Jamaica had retained its number 70 position on the FIFA Coca-Cola Rankings list, that was released yesterday.

He said: "I am satisfied with the current situation because not being in the final round of the World Cup qualifiers we certainly stand the risk of falling down the ladder and hence, have to try and keep active.

"The difficulty, as I've explained before, is that most of the worthy opponents are involved in World Cup qualifying games during the available FIFA dates."

He added: "However, early next week, we hope top confirm an opponent for the FIFA date in June, which we hope will be played at The Office."