Belize Jaguars will play despite not being paid
Ian Gaynair
There are serious rumblings in the Football Federation of Belize right now. The players who represented Belize at the Gold Cup have not received the payment they were promised. The F.F.B. says that as soon as they receive money from CONCACAF for participation in the Gold Cup Team Belize will be paid. It hasn’t made for a very pleasant or cordial relationship between the players and the F.F.B. But in the end, it’s all about football and representing Belize. The only member of the Belize Jaguars who scored a goal in the Gold Cup says that whenever they are called, the team will represent. But that call needs to come sooner rather than later.
Ian Gaynair, Midfielder, Belize Jaguars
“Right now we’re just focusing on the local league that’s played in Belize…the semi-pro league that’s played in Belize. We have some international matches coming up soon so we just have to continue working to reach our goals and we want to go back to the Gold Cup again. It was a first time experience and I’m sure that in 2015 we could reach back that same spot. So I think that from now we need to start work and I think the federation should identify that we need a lot of practice matches. We need to practice. They need to call us back in. I think we should start working from now instead of waiting three months before a tournament to start training. And we need to ensure that we have a good league in Belize where we can develop other players.”
Reporter
“Is the team still for all intents and purposes together, the team that went to the Gold Cup or has everybody gone their separate ways?”
Ian Gaynair
“We’re still together. Most of us are in Belize, only two or three players are playing outside. But the minute they call us back to train or if we have an international friendly they will get back the team. Everybody will come back together as well as new players.”
The F.F.B. is hoping that if all goes as planned, the players will receive the first portion of their payment, two thousand dollars, by next week.
