General Secretary of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), Dennis Chung, on Thursday deflected questions regarding reports of his pending resignation, choosing instead to highlight the systems the federation has put in place to maintain progress.

Chung was responding to a query during a press conference about local development initiatives now that the JFF has achieved greater financial stability. Asked directly whether there was any truth to media reports that he would soon step down, Chung replied:

“That is not for this press conference. We’ll address that another time.”

Pressed further on whether he believed the current administrative framework was strong enough for a successor to carry on the work if he were to depart, Chung declined to address the implication directly. However, JFF President Michael Ricketts stepped in to provide clarity.

“Not until I have gotten a letter of resignation from Mr Chung, then we treat that as hearsay,” Ricketts stated firmly.

“I have not, and the show goes on. I mean, Mr Chung has played a major role in reorganizing, especially on the commercial aspect of the JFF, so that we are now on solid financial footing.”

Ricketts emphasized the importance of maintaining that financial stability, noting:

“It’s very, very important, very critical that now that there’s a framework from which we can launch other footballing events, then we must be very careful that we maintain this level of compliance—this level of being in a stable financial position."

The JFF president continued: “It makes no sense having been removed from restricted funding, and a few months later we go back. So it will be very, very important that we make use of this platform that has been laid, that we continue on the trajectory that will keep us financially viable.”

Chung supported that position, pointing to the progress made in governance and transparency under the current leadership. “What we have developed here is our processes and policies,” he said. “We are working in conjunction with FIFA especially, and our external auditors. We have managed to develop the processes. We have the personnel in place. So it’s not now one individual who sets the controls in here—it is a system that we have.”

Chung added that the Federation still had much to accomplish, particularly in commercial growth and content delivery. “The will is here to ensure that we move the thing forward. We still have a lot to do. You look at what’s happening with the streaming, the marketing side of it—that team is working very well. And as the President said, the development—but we have some objectives that we still want to achieve from a commercial point of view. By no means are we done with it, and I think that we’re getting somewhere with it. And I think that you'll see continued growth from here.”

Meanwhile, Ricketts said the time had come to shift the federation’s focus more fully to youth and grassroots development now that the financial turnaround was underway.

“Our development programme must now get priority,” he said. “Now that we have achieved what we set out to achieve over the last two or three years, it’s time to pay attention to other components of the sport.”

He added that the JFF would now go “full speed ahead” on its grassroots and total development programmes, especially at the U13 and U15 levels. “We are going to ensure that step by step we address every single component of the sport,” he said.