Reggae singer Chronixx made an appearance at Jamaica’s football team—the Reggae Boyz training session—in Kingston at the National Stadium on Tuesday, ahead of their World Cup Qualifier against the Dominican Republic on Wednesday June 6.
His charitable appearance with the team also comes ahead of the screening of THE REGGAE BOYZ, a feature doc about the healing power of soccer in Jamaica set against the backdrop of World Cup qualification where a colorful German coach Winnie Schäfer, teams up with reggae musicians to unite Jamaica beyond the soccer pitch.
Starring Sheldon Shepherd, the 2018 film directed by Till Schauder is already on Video On Demand but will have its Jamaica Premiere on June 12 at the German Embassy in Kingston. An official release on social media on Tuesday stated, “We are so excited to FINALLY have our Jamaican Premiere of THE REGGAE BOYZ! Too many years have gone by without being able to share this film with the amazing people who made it happen in the first place. Featuring Sheldon Shepherd with a musical score by The Nomaddz.”
Meanwhile in the real world, the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) has come under fire from Jamaican fans after the match, scheduled for 6:30 p.m., had to be rescheduled to 3:30 p.m.
The organization issued an apology on X Wednesday morning, stating, “Please be advised that after an evaluation from CONCACAF, they have decided to change the kick-off time of The World Cup Qualifier game between Jamaica and the Dominican Republic to 3:30 p.m. JA time, June 6. We apologize for the inconvenience this may have caused.”
Please be advised that after an evaluation from CONCACAF, they have decided to change the kick off time of The World cup Qualifier game between Jamaica and the Dominican Republic to 3:30PM JA time, June 6.
We apologize for the inconvenience this may have caused. pic.twitter.com/TBleg0KmCv
— Official J.F.F (@jff_football) June 5, 2024
Several people on X shared their displeasure with the local governing football body for their lack of preparedness, saying the stadium will be empty because of the match time.
One person tweeted, “Most people will be at work. You guys won’t get the support. Not sure what this ‘evaluation’ is for.”
Another said, “The place aguh empty.”
In May, the General Secretary for the JFF, Dennis Chung, told The Star that his organization and Independence Park Limited (IPL), managers of the National Stadium, are urgently working to improve lighting at the National Stadium for the Concacaf World Cup qualifier against the Dominican Republic. He said, “We are working with IPL, who are on top of the situation. They actually will be receiving and clearing the lights as projected.”
The current stadium lighting falls short of the required 1,000 lumens, which caused the rescheduled time.
Chung had encouraged fans to attend the match, highlighting that the Reggae Boyz won’t play in Jamaica again until 2025. The urgency comes after Cavalier was fined US$10,000 earlier this year for inadequate lighting at the stadium, highlighting the importance of meeting lighting standards for regional competitions.
