FIFA lifts JFF’s ‘going concern’ status

THE Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) has received a boost to its financial credibility, with external auditors officially removing the “going concern” qualification from its audit report.

This development follows the decision by FIFA to lift its financial restrictions on the federation in March, signalling growing confidence in the JFF’s governance and fiscal discipline.

The going concern concept in accounting assumes that a business will continue to operate indefinitely and will not be liquidated in the foreseeable future.

This principle is crucial as it allows businesses to allocate expenses and revenues over multiple accounting periods, ensuring that financial statements reflect the ongoing nature of the business. Its removal means that the JFF is now seen as capable of sustaining its operations independently.

JFF General Secretary Dennis Chung says this a significant boost for the association.

“From an administrative point of view, the audit has been done, and we are now waiting on the board to sign it off and make it official,” he said. “We have received the final draft, and the auditors have removed the going concern qualification.

“Removing the going concern qualification means the organisation is operating in a financially sound manner and won’t need support to survive over the next year — and that is a big thing for us. It tells people that we are managing our financial affairs properly, not just because FIFA lifted its restrictions but because external auditors have reviewed the JFF’s finances and found them to be stable.

The financial turnaround comes after years of scrutiny but Chung says the JFF has worked hard to turn around the finances.

“To my understanding, this is the first time in over 20 years that the going concern status has been lifted from the JFF, but I am not surprised,” he said.

“Over the past two years we have recorded surpluses and, year to date, we are still in surplus. We have been working to eliminate the negative equity that existed for years.”

Chung also credited the staff and leadership at the JFF for their commitment to fiscal discipline.

“It shows the staff have been doing an excellent job in sticking to budgets and meeting financial commitments, supported strongly by the president who has been adamant that we reach this point,” he said.

Chung says this will impact the JFF’s reputation positively and its ability to conduct business. “This is a massive boost for football. What it also says to potential partners and vendors is that they can now have confidence in doing business with the JFF.

“If you are a vendor and you are unsure whether an organisation will survive the next 12 months, you might hesitate to extend credit,” he said. “But knowing the JFF is financially sound means people will be more willing to engage and even offer better credit terms.”

The JFF receives US$1 million (around $156 million) annually, along with additional project funding from FIFA.