The Jamaica women’s national team have announced their withdrawal from the CONCACAF Women’s Gold Cup Qualifiers.

Instagram posts were sent out this evening by members of the team, including Tottenham Hotspur players – goalkeeper Rebecca Spencer and Drew Spence, stating that “whilst it was one of the hardest decisions” they have had to make, it was felt “necessary to take such a drastic stance to put an end to the constant mistreatment” received from the Jamaican Football Federation (JFF).

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The players explain that the reason for withdrawing from the competition relates to receiving information about coaching and medical staff in an “untimely manner and through unprofessional communication”.

Further, the players confirm that they are yet to receive “full and correct payments” from their World Cup performance as well as “numerous outstanding bonuses for qualifying” in 2022.

The players’ issues with the JFF are long-standing. Prior to the World Cup in June, the players were public in their criticism of the JFF stating that, due to their disorganisation, they had missed several FIFA friendly matches and had raised concerns about “subpar planning, transportation, accommodation, training conditions, compensation and nutrition”.

Despite the significant pre-tournament problems, the Jamaican women’s national team excelled at their first World Cup. They progressed to the final 16 unbeaten to France, Panama and Brazil, with No 1 Spencer keeping a clean sheet until they were knocked out by Colombia 1-0.

The Reggae Girlz have recently returned from their first international camp since the World Cup and will have been putting in preparations early for the CONCACAF Women’s Gold Cup.

The tournament will be contested by 12 teams and takes place from February, 20 to March 10, 2024 and will be held in the United States.

GO DEEPER

The pre-tournament chaos Jamaica survived to reach World Cup knockouts

(Photo: Getty Images)