ST JAMES, Jamaica — In a sudden shake-up of Jamaica’s professional football administration, Yoni Epstein, chairman of the Finance Committee of Professional Football Jamaica Limited (PFJL) and head of top-flight club Montego Bay United, has stepped down from his finance committee post with immediate effect. Announcing the move in an official statement released Thursday, Epstein stated his resignation was driven by a desire to safeguard his long-standing professional reputation.
In his resignation notice, Epstein pulled back the curtain on what he calls a repeated, troubling pattern of questionable decision-making by the PFJL board. According to him, the governing body has consistently prioritized payouts to its own members over meeting outstanding operational debt obligations. He emphasized this practice amounts to a fundamental violation of core principles of sound financial governance, and poses a direct threat to the entire organization’s financial integrity.
Epstein made clear that no finance committee chair committed to upholding professional and ethical standards could publicly endorse or associate themselves with such problematic conduct. He pointed to a recent controversial board decision that directly contradicted formal recommendations put forward by his Finance Committee as the final straw.
Citing current PFJL financial figures, Epstein explained that the organization holds just $7.6 million in total available cash reserves, while facing approximately $29 million in unpaid obligations to external creditors. Despite this severe imbalance, the PFJL board chose to allocate $5.6 million — equal to 74% of all available cash on hand — to distribution payments to member clubs. In contrast, the large outstanding creditor debts that keep the league’s daily operations running remain almost entirely unpaid.
Epstein argued that this decision fails to meet any basic standard of financial prudence, and in his professional view, reflects conduct that falls far short of the fiduciary responsibilities required of a properly governed corporate entity.
While he has formally left his post, Epstein confirmed he stands ready to support an orderly handover of his finance chair duties, and will provide all required transition documentation to ensure no disruption to ongoing work. That said, he issued an urgent call for PFJL leadership to immediately address the outstanding creditor liabilities, and overhaul the organization’s decision-making processes to bring financial governance into alignment with widely accepted industry standards. Epstein warned that changes must be made quickly to prevent the organization’s financial position from deteriorating even further.