A contentious goal reversal in the opening leg of the Wray & Nephew Jamaica Premier League semi-finals has reignited calls for the introduction of Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology for the competition’s playoff stage, after Portmore United fell 1-0 to Mount Pleasant Football Academy at Kingston’s National Stadium on Sunday.
The match remained deadlocked until the 82nd minute, when veteran striker Warner Brown slotted home the game’s only goal, handing Mount Pleasant a crucial advantage as the side chases a fourth consecutive appearance in the league final. But the defining moment of the contest came 12 minutes earlier, when Portmore thought they had broken the deadlock through national team striker Cory Burke.
Burke’s powerful effort bounced off the crossbar’s underside, off Mount Pleasant goalkeeper Shaquan Davis, and was eventually cleared away by defender Kimoni Bailey. Initial referee Okeito Nicholson ruled the goal good, judging the entire ball had crossed the goal line, triggering wild celebrations from the Portmore squad. But Mount Pleasant’s players immediately surrounded officials to protest the call, prompting Nicholson to confer with his assistant referee, who had positioned along the goal line for the play.
After several minutes of deliberation, Nicholson overturned his original decision and disallowed the goal, a call that left Portmore’s players, coaching staff and fans furious. Supporters gathered in the grandstand’s west section erupted in protest, with many exiting the venue early before the final whistle blew.
While Portmore assistant coach Ricardo Smith admitted he could not confirm from the dugout whether the ball had fully crossed the line, he stressed that the referee’s decision to reverse his original call was incorrect. “I was just hoping he would have stuck to the first call he made, pointing to the spot. But obviously, the linesman told him that the ball didn’t cross the line. I was just there waiting to see if we got the goal and everything, but we just didn’t,” Smith told reporters post-match.
Smith argued that VAR, which has already been deployed at the same National Stadium venue for major regional and international competitions, should have been in place for the high-stakes semi-final to resolve the controversy. “We could have won the game tonight, we didn’t but I’m saying, in a big game like this, I’ve seen where VAR has been used here before. Why couldn’t the Federation or whoever set that up for these big games and so forth. That’s what I was questioning. Why isn’t VAR system set up for these games?”
To date, VAR has been used for multiple top-tier Concacaf competitions hosted in Kingston, including FIFA World Cup qualifiers, the Concacaf Nations League and the Caribbean Cup. Back in November 2024, the Jamaica Observer reported that Professional Football Jamaica Limited (PFJL), the league’s governing body, was in active negotiations to bring the system to the 2025 playoffs, but those plans never came to fruition. The process was further complicated after the exit of previous broadcast partner Sportsmax.
Though his side ultimately benefited from the decision, Mount Pleasant head coach Theodore Whitmore declined to take a firm stance on the call, while noting he believed officials failed to follow established protocol. “I’m not a referee. I’m not a VAR,” Whitmore said. “There’s a procedure you have to follow and I don’t think the referee followed the procedure. I’m dealing with coaching — I’m not a referee or assessor or nothing — that’s their part to deal with.”
Despite the disappointment of the opening leg loss, Smith said his side remains focused on turning the tie around in the decisive second leg, scheduled for this Wednesday at the National Stadium with a 6:00 pm kickoff. “We have to move forward, we don’t have enough time — two days in-between the next game,” Smith said. “We have to just keep the mentality that we came in the game with that we can win. We know we can win the game and we just have to come and turn it around.”
In the day’s other semi-final second-leg fixture, kicking off at 9:00 pm on the same night, defending league champions Cavalier FC will also aim to reverse a one-goal deficit against Montego Bay United.