Another Football Team Pull Out Of Island Games
Jersey’s men’s football team will not compete at the 2013 Island Games which will be held in Bermuda, citing the cost of travel and accommodation.
Manager Craig Culkin said: “I think money is best being spent on 10 to 12 fixtures over the course of a season rather than two games in Bermuda.”
Jersey is a multiple time medal winner in the Games, having won three golds in the football tournament, and a bronze in 2011. The cost was expected to be in the region of £2,000 [$3,100] per player.
In 2011 Jersey took more than 230 sportsmen and women to the Games in the Isle of Wight, however Jersey’s Island Games Association chairman Steve Jacobs said he expected that to be nearer 160 in Bermuda.
The Isle of Man announced last year that their footballers — who have won silver three times — would not compete in the 2013 Island Games in Bermuda due to the high cost.
The IoM Football Association’s Frank Stennett said “We’d like to go but it’s a bridge too far financially. At the moment it’s looking as if the trip will cost around £3,000 [$4,700] a head. For a party of 48, the number we took to this summer’s Games in the Isle of Wight, that would total £144,000 [$244,500]. It’s a non-starter.”
Guernsey’s footballers also indicated last year they will not be traveling to Bermuda, however they still expect to bring a contingent of around 180 athletes. Guernsey topped the medal table in 2011 with 107 medals.
The costs of transporting teams from Europe to the Bermuda has been a concern to many teams since it was announced the Games would be held in Bermuda on 13th July – 19th July 2013.
Ooops.
Could they not have stayed a people’s houses like the (ex-professional) rugby boys do? Come on this is Jersey, these are one up from pub players. Their loss.