THE Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) says it is eagerly awaiting the result of a probe it ordered the Inter-secondary Schools’ Sport Association (ISSA) to launch into two “suspicious” LIME-sponsored Manning Cup matches played on Wednesday.

In one game, defending champions Jamaica College (JC) clobbered Denham Town 16-0, while Excelsior blew away giant-killers Holy Trinity 12-0 in the other encounter, both results raising eyebrows.

Defending champions and howling favourites, JC were facing possible elimination from the competition, having started the day level with Excelsior in Group J on four points, but second on goal difference.

So entering the final group match, Excelsior with a plus two goal difference were ahead of JC with plus one before the 28-goal debacle.

Both teams ended with seven points, but the boys from Old Hope Road finished with a plus 17 goal difference to Excelsior’s plus 14, which saw JC advancing to the semi-finals of the Manning Cup.

In the JC-Denham Town game, the school from Old Hope Road interestingly scored six goals in as many minutes of time added.

“We are gravely concerned with these results, which don’t seem to be normal at this stage of the competition and we have written to ISSA ordering them to probe the matter and get back to us with a report by November 10,” said JFF General Secretary Raymond Grant when reached yesterday.

The JFF’s chief administrator said he now awaits the report from ISSA, which would then be turned over to the JFF’s Security and Fairplay and Competitions Committees for their review and recommendations based on the findings.

Grant said he expects that ISSA investigation will embrace interviews with coaches, managers and players, plus an examination of the train of activities surrounding and leading up to the games and also tapes of the actual games themselves.

“There were instances where one game was brought forward and another started late when both were scheduled to start at the same, so we would have to find out why that happened,” he said.

If at the end of the ISSA and the JFF probes it is determined that the game was brought into disrepute in any way, Grant said sanctions would then be determined after a conference with the JFF and then ISSA.

“We would have to have discussions with ISSA and figure the way forward,” Grant noted.

Grant added that it was unfortunate that local football is undertaking such an investigation in the immediate aftermath of a multi-lateral workshop on integrity of the game hosted by the JFF on October 18 at its New Kingston offices.

That workshop brought together representatives from FIFA, CONCACAF, Interpol, Jamaica Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, Ministry of Justice, Major Organised Crime and Anti-corruption Task Force, the Betting Gaming and Lotteries Commission, among others.

“We, as a Federation, are keen on protecting the integrity of the sport, and so we will do whatever it takes to ensure that,” Grant told the Jamaica Observer.

George Forbes, ISSA’s competitions director, told this newspaper that all teams will be under investigation.

“We will be talking to the schools about why they performed so badly. We will investigate Holy Trinity, who had a chance of going through, because I am hearing that they used their second and third string players. Why would you have done that when you have a chance of going through,” Forbes said.

“We will have to ask Denham Town… ah mean six goals in six minutes in time added on. These (questions) need answers and they will have to [funish] us with answers,” said Forbes.

Holy Trinity, who will be contesting the $1-million LIME Super Cup final today, finished third in the group with three points after resting several of their starters against Excelsior at the Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex.

Holy Trinity, in eight games in the inter-zone round, had a tight defence that conceded just six goals, five of which were scored by the high-riding Wolmer’s Boys’ in two games.

They also conceded just once in three games in the LIME Super Cup on their way to the final — drawing 1-1 with Clarendon College, before winning 4-3 on penalties and defeating Garvey Maceo 4-0 and Wolmer’s Boys’ 1-0.

Yet they conceded 12 times and it could have been worse had Excelsior been sharper in front goal. Excelsior had scored 20 goals in eight inter-zone matches, with their biggest margin being a 5-0 win over Mona High.

Although it’s early in their investigations Forbes noted that sanctions could vary and indicated that guilty schools might not be invited to participate in the future.

“Remember, ISSA’s competitions are by invitation. We can say to schools that we are not going to invite you to play. There is no rule that says you must play. We can say we are not inviting you next year and there is nothing you can do about it,” Forbes warned.

“But we can’t think about sanctions yet. We have to find out what happened, and see if a team brought the sport into disrepute,” he pointed out.