I am in love with football. I have been, ever since I was a kid. I am also in love with the Reggae Boyz. Have been, ever since I was a child, and my father took me to the 1998 World Cup qualifiers; the memories will forever be etched in my mind. I remember the heartache of drawing against the USA when we had a really good shot of beating them and therefore qualifying, only to come up short with a mistake from Ian Goodison, and I remember the joy when we got oh so close to the Gold Cup, only to come up short. I love this sport, I have spent hours like other Jamaicans analysing it, studying it and respecting it.
The Reggae Boyz, in recent World Cup cycles, have not come close to qualifying. This time, however, the football gods seem to be on our side, giving us a relatively easy group on paper from which we should, at most, directly qualify for the big show or at the least make it to the perilous playoff section.
The squad on paper should make it, but if we are honest it needs steel in the back line, one more midfielder to control the game, and a forward who knows how to put the ball in the back of the net — the hardest job in football; I say this as a former defender. The Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) have sought to rectify this by looking abroad and seem to have nabbed their guy in the front line with reports that Mason Greenwood is set to be available and all that is awaiting is Passport Immigration and Citizen Agency (PICA) approval.
It must be admitted that Greenwood is supremely talented. He was a Manchester United prodigy, breaking through as a teenager to earn a starting spot. He got his England call-up as a teenager, and at that moment he looked set to be on top of the world. He is no longer at United, now playing in France with Marseille, earning a third of what he could have if he had stayed in Manchester. The reasons for his leaving his boyhood club are shocking. He was accused by his former girlfriend of attempted rape and sexual assault, only for the allegations to be dropped. So why did United sell him? Leaked audio left listeners with no doubt that Greenwood had engaged in at least sexual assault and left the club with an R Kelly Pee Tape situation where he technically isn’t guilty, but the public knows that what he has done is unforgivable.
This raises serious questions about Jamaica, how we view our women and what we (and football as a whole) are willing to turn a blind eye to if the person is a good baller.
The JFF is keenly aware of why Greenwood is in this situation of having to lower his standard, so much so that he has to play the equivalent of bush league football. They know why the English FA have said they would never call him up again yet they still saw it fit to not only passively court the player, but to actively recruit him, allowing him oodles of time to “think over the decision” which in reality meant beg the FA to go back on their position and recall him to the England setup.
The JFF have been essentially chasing a player who only views them as the option of last resort, a purgatory if you will, not the metaphorical heaven of England but not the hell of not being on the world stage.
The JFF see no issue in calling him up, and they have a sordid record when it comes to this. I am old enough to remember the brutal loss to England before the 2006 World Cup. I am also old enough to remember that Marlon King, who played that match and future matches for Jamaica, was alleged to have sexually assaulted ladies with nary a peep from the JFF.
Football administrators don’t care, that much is obvious, they will do everything to not speak about it, but it is a doggone shame that the Government isn’t making a big deal about this. In a land where just a few weeks ago a policeman is accused of the shooting death of his partner over alleged cheating, a land where our politicians pass laws strengthening penalties for people who abuse women and kids, they say nothing to the JFF counting a person who has been shunned by his homeland because the weight of the allegations were so serious.
Are we so desperate for footballing glory that we will turn a blind eye to this? Is the chance of playing at a World Cup all it takes to buy our footballing souls? Can we imagine how the ladies of the more successful and renowned Reggae Girlz must be feeling at this moment?
With the Greenwood matter now in PICA’s hands at the time of writing, it means National Security Minister Dr Horace Chang could refuse him based on the allegations. It means that Minister Olivia Grange, who is in charge of sports, could lean on PICA to stop it. They won’t, and that is to be expected.
Football mirrors society. We see that with the racism, the fight against women’s football, and pushback against the pro-LGBTQI acceptance. Football also has a major problem with turning a blind eye to sexual abuse because the person is a good player or can spot a good player.
Only a few weeks ago the worst kept secret in football was revealed when former Arsenal player Thomas Partey was named and charged on 5 counts of rape and sexual assault.
The club could have released him. Anyone who knows football knows that clubs will release players at the drop of a hat. Roy Keane, Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Mesut Ozil of Arsenal all had contracts terminated for reasons which did not rise to nearly the level of those facing Partey, yet he stayed. He stayed because he was viewed as a good footballer, and he was offered a new contract for the same reasons. The safety of players and staff be damned, the mental state of Arsenal supporting victims of sexual abuse can take a back seat, the boy is a damn good baller.
There is no hope of tackling gender-based violence, be it against men or women, if we turn a blind eye to it because the perpetrator is skilled at their craft. It cannot be a two-tier system where the ordinary man is held to account but the big man is not; consequences must fall evenly and to all found guilty. We have a culture which views gender-based violence as normal, a big man and big woman thing, and that must change. Actions taken by the JFF show that we are a far way away from changing that culture; we will accept your abuses if you are good, but if you aren’t, then trouble awaits you.
Much needs to be done, but we have to do it if we are to end this scourge of gender-based violence. As a lifelong Reggae Boyz supporter, even during the dark days, I find myself in a position where, with the best chance of making the World Cup, I won’t be watching or attending games. Standards matter, we all must stand for something, and this is my line.
I will not support the Reggae Boyz so long as Greenwood dons our jersey. It is a painful decision but an easy one to make. My parents raised me with morals, and while I don’t always live up to them, I try hard to live up to their standard, and I don’t think they would be okay with me cheering on Mr Greenwood if they heard the leaked audio. I know I wouldn’t be, so I won’t. I know I will be in the minority, especially if we win the first few games, but I will be in the right, with my morals and footballing soul intact.
