Jamaican footballer given 48-hour deadline to withdraw lawsuit

Kingston (Jamaica), Oct 3 (IANS/CMC) A former Jamaica national footballer, Jermaine Hue, has been given a 48-hour deadline to withdraw a lawsuit filed against football authorities in the country, claiming damages following his suspension last year.

Hue is suing the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) for breach of contract and is also seeking special damages of $10,000, reports CMC.

However, the JFF Thursday responded with what appears to be a threatening letter demanding that the lawsuit be withdrawn in two days.

"The provisions of the Jamaica Football Federation by laws, as well as the JFF player contract signed by Hue which explicitly incorporates a protocol for the settlement of grievances and enshrines the procedure as set out in the FIFA statutes in which, as a general rule, recourse to ordinary courts of law is prohibited," said the JFF.

In court documents filed Sep 17, Hue argues that his football career has suffered because of a nine-month suspension imposed in September last year after he tested positive for the banned drug Dexamethesone.

Team doctor Carlton Frazer was also named in the suit for injecting Hue with a substance which later turned out to be on the World Anti-Doping Agency list of prohibited substances.

Frazer received a four-year sanction, which will keep him exiled from the game until 2017.

The JFF said failure to withdraw the lawsuit within two days will result in the local body submitting the matter to the relevant authorities within the federation for consideration and decision.

Hue, an attacking midfielder, has 42 caps and 12 goals for Jamaica's senior national team in a career that started in 1999.

--IANS/CMC

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