JFF suspends Busby, says women must be ‘safeguarded’

The Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) has suspended national senior women's football team head coach Hubert Busby Jr indefinitely, after a meeting with him yesterday.

Busby, 52, has been accused of sexual misconduct by former Vancouver Whitecaps player Malloree Enoch, while he was head coach of the club between 2010 and 2011. Although Busby has refused to speak on the matter, he has denied the allegation.

The JFF said yesterday that it has written to FIFA requesting a full investigation and that it will not make a permanent decision until it has all the facts available.

"The Executive of the Jamaica Football Federation has provisionally suspended national women's football head coach Hubert Busby after allegations against him were exposed recently," the release read.

"The decision was taken at a meeting earlier today (Tuesday). The Federation has written to FIFA requesting a comprehensive investigation, after which a final decision will be made on his future with Jamaica's women's football programme."

JFF president Michael Ricketts said that they must ensure that they safeguard their young women.

"We will await the results of this FIFA investigation," he said. "We do not want to make permanent decisions until we have the facts. At the same time, we have to ensure that our women and girls are protected by those who lead them."

Busby was Hue Menzies' goalkeeping coach when the Reggae Girlz made their historic qualification for the FIFA Women's World Cup in France in 2019. He became head coach in 2020 after Menzies resigned two months after qualification, and his assistant, Lorne Donaldson, refused the job after a few matches in charge.