TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (CMC) –  Theodore Whitmore has confirmed reports that he plans to step down as head coach of the Jamaica National Football team.
Whitmore’s revelation follows Jamaica’s two-nil defeat against Honduras, Tuesday night, their fourth successive World Cup Qualifying loss and third in eight days.
The request for Whitmore to tender his resignation came from the president of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), Captain Horace Burrell, at an emergency meeting that followed the Reggae Boyz defeat against the Central Americans. “He asked me to … we had a meeting last night,” Whitmore confirmed, as the team prepared to depart.
“I am going to,” Whitmore told The Gleaner yesterday from his room at the Real Intercontinental Tegucigalpa hotel.
Whitmore has promised to say more at an upcoming news conference.
Jamaica media say Whitmore’s decision to step down does not come as a surprise.
Jamaica have failed to win a match in six outings in CONCACAF final round World Cup Qualifying (WCQ).
Their World Cup hopes faded as they lost back-to-back home games last week against Mexico and the United States, following a 2-0 defeat against Costa Rica in March.
Whitmore is a former national captain and World Cup hero who scored twice to enable Jamaica to win their only match at their only senior World Cup Finals appearance, at France ’98, when they beat Japan 2-1.
He is the second Jamaican coach to be fired in Honduras, after the sacking of Brazilian Rene Simoes after a loss virtually eliminated the team from World Cup Qualifiers in 2008.
Jamaica sit at the bottom of the six-nation standings on two points.