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In the group stage of the Women’s World Cup with the highest number of participants ever, there were several surprises. One of these also involved Italy, against their will: in the decisive match of the group stage they were beaten 3-2 by South Africa, the 54th national team in the world rankings, which not only had never qualified for the round of 16, but did winning his first match at a World Cup (against sixteenth-placed Italy in the FIFA ranking). Among other more significant results was Nigeria qualifying undefeated for the round of 16, something that had never happened before. And so did Jamaica, whose history is even more significant.
At the World Cup four years ago, Jamaica made its debut in the tournament, finishing its group in bottom place with three defeats out of three matches, 12 goals conceded (5 only by Italy) and only one scored. In this edition they found themselves in a group considered even more difficult than the previous one, given the presence of France, fifth in the world rankings, and Brazil, eighth and already met in 2019. However, the results of these days have denied all expectations.
Despite scoring just one goal, which secured a vital victory against Panama, Jamaica progressed as runners-up after drawing 0-0 with both France and Brazil, whom they eliminated in Wednesday’s decider.
In the case of the Jamaican national team, however, results are only part of the story. After obtaining the second consecutive qualification for the World Cup as the third national team from Central and North America, its participation had in fact been compromised by the negligence of the local football federation (JFF), disorganized and disinterested to such an extent that it could not even guarantee the organization of the preparation friendlies, as reported by the players in June.
Relations between the women’s team and the JFF, however, had already been bad for years. In 2018, the national team had to suspend all its activities for a certain period because it no longer had the money to carry on. However, she had managed to qualify for the World Cup in France thanks to private donations, and at that point the Federation had reappeared promising prizes that the players have never seen.
For all these reasons, in the months preceding the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, Jamaica had only played one official match. Given the concrete risk of showing up once again unprepared for such an important appointment, due to the responsibility of others, in mid-June the players took matters into their own hands by collectively denouncing the lack of support from the JFF. Through family members and supporters, they then organized two online fundraisers to support participation in the World Cup in the best possible way.
One such fundraiser was organized at GoFundMe by the mother of one of the players, while the other one comes from the Reggae Girlz Foundation, an association that supports Jamaican female soccer players and their activities. Both are still active: one has recently exceeded 60,000 dollars with 1,300 donations, the other has raised 48,000 from 242 supporters, including Bob Marley’s eldest daughter, Cedella, who already helped the team to restart.
All the money raised has been and will be used to pay for travel, suppliers, food and accommodation, but also players and staff in the absence of resources from the Federation. The fundraiser that collected the most money had the goal of 100 thousand dollars: 3 percent of the final amount will go to the platform that hosts it and what will not be spent will be paid to the Reggae Girlz Foundation, that is, to the other fundraiser. All expenses incurred will be published gradually on the donations page, where the promoters of the initiative have already given updates on the various stages leading up to the tournament.
Deneisha Blackwood and Vyan Sampson after the draw against Brazil (Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
The main difficulty was getting all the players together, given that none of the 23 squads play in Jamaica, where the women’s league is small and amateur. Many are also daughters of Jamaican immigrants born and raised in other countries, especially those playing in England and France. One of these is Allyson Swaby, born in the United States and now at Paris Saint-Germain after playing four seasons for Roma. Among the summons there is also the younger sister, Chantelle.
All the others play and live in the United States, between college and professional teams. Given the various origins, the group had decided to meet at the end of June in Amsterdam, whose airport is one of the best connected for intercontinental travel. There had been organized a so-called training camp of ten days, at the end of which the group had moved to Australia, where on 23 July there was the debut with France and the first point obtained in a World Cup.
After the historic qualification, Jamaica will meet Colombia in the round of 16 in a match open to any result. Meanwhile, the Jamaican federation wrote: “We must recognize that things have not been done in the best way and we are working diligently to resolve them.”