SAV LA MAR, Westmoreland — All clubs taking part in the 2015-2016 Red Stripe Premier League competitions will have to be successfully licensed under CONCACAF, the regional governing body for the sport.

Failure to successfully get by the four-part system could see teams not being able to take part in the country’s top club competition, says Jamaica Football Federation’s Western Confederation boss Linnell McLean.

At Thursday’s presentation and awards ceremony at Hotel Commingle in Sav la Mar, McLean said the JFF had signed off on an agreement with CONCACAF, and by extension FIFA, that all clubs taking part in any organised competition must be licensed.

The process which will be done online, he said, will be in four forms where the clubs will have to satisfy in the areas of infrastructure, general club management, finance as well as youth systems.

“All Premier League clubs will have to be licensed to stay in the system or they won’t be allowed to compete,” said McLean.

This, he added, is in keeping with the development thrust of Jamaica’s football and the direction it will be going.

Given the situation that presently obtains, McLean said the JFF had been begging for time for the clubs to get their affairs in order, and while other clubs will have a slight extension, this will not be the same for the Premier League clubs that must meet all obligations required if they are to field teams in the upcoming season.

“We had been arguing at the JFF that some of these requirements can’t be put in place immediately and will take time and we had been asking for time, but this will not (apply to) the Premier League teams, they are on a timeline that starts this year,” he said.

Major League and Division One teams will be brought in line at some point in time, but will have to fulfil all criteria, McLean pointed out.

However, teams in the confed leagues won’t have much time to relax. “We are going to be forcing every club to fulfil these obligations so they (confes team) will be ready administratively to step up to the Premier League. We are making sure every club at the confed level can go straight into the Premier League with good administration.”

This, McLean said, “will bring the confed up to the level of being the true second level competition”.

In breaking down the four areas, the football executive explained that in the infrastructure section. clubs “must prove ownership of their fields, the type of fields they use, seating or provision for seating; broadcast position for television, or (must show that they are) putting that in place”.

One of the biggest hurdle, he noted, that could affect teams, especially at the confed or lower levels, was that “no more than two teams can use any one facility”.

Based on the new direction, no longer will clubs get by with a one-man situation or a lack of a proper administration. The system requires at least seven key people in the structure of a club. They are a president, a manager, a financial controller, head coach, youth head coach, media officer, a marketing officer and a doctor.

On the finance forms, all clubs, explained McLean, must have audited accounts at the end of the year and teams taking part in the upcoming season will have to show an audit for the past year.

“This means that all parish associations must have their books audited as well; the bookkeeping must be improved,” he noted.

The rule that every team in the Premier League must have at least one youth team will be enforced. “Most clubs have youth teams, but some at the confed level might not have any, but if you don’t have youth team, you can’t compete at the top level,” McLean ended,