Jamaican schoolboy football is set to resume on Monday after a one-day strike by the Jamaica Football Referees Association (JFRA) over safety concerns of its members.

The referees withdrew their services on Saturday which crippled 30 games in both the urban Manning Cup and the rural daCosta Cup competitions.

 The JFRA’s decision to withhold their services came after several incidents of violence and intimidation against referees, including a recent incident where an official was physically assaulted during a match between McGrath High and Dinthill Technical High School.

But on Saturday evening the InterSecondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA) — the governing body responsible for high school sports in Jamaica — issued a press release saying that they were forced to postpone all games but will resume on Monday.

“The postponement of the games resulted from a position taken by members of the Jamaica Football Referees Association (JFRA) and communicated to ISSA on Saturday, September 28, 2024 to not make themselves available for games in our competitions until an urgent meeting is held between their representatives and ISSA,” the release said.

However, ISSA noted that they arranged and met with the representatives of the JRFA within an hour of receiving the letter of concern and despite a “fruitful meeting” where all concerns were raised and addressed and solutions agreed upon, the referees decided to withdraw their services for Saturday and make themselves available for Monday.

Two Saturdays ago, a viral video was circulated with Dinthill Technical players attacking a referee resulting in a one-year ban for both Malaack Whyte and Shamair Hutchinson.

The referees are demanding better security protocols and support from (ISSA) as in another DaCosta Cup game, an assistant referee was hit in the chest by a missile thrown in the Cornwall College versus Maldon High match.

ISSA has committed to reviewing its general operations and implementing new security measures to ensure the safety of match officials.