Francis' MVP embarrassment

How many times can MVP’s head coach Stephen Francis continue to heap embarrassment upon this country before he is brought to book?

In this latest episode Francis’ athletes – Asafa Powell, Shericka Williams, Brigette Foster, Kaleise Spencer, and Melaine Walker and Shelly Ann Fraser would have not been able to participate at the 12th IAAF World Championships that began this weekend in Berlin, Germany.

All six athletes are among the very best in their respective disciplines. Powell is a four-time world record holder; Brigette Foster Hylton is a two-time world championship medallist; Spencer is a world junior champion and is among the best the 400-metre hurdlers this year; while Walker and Fraser are Olympic gold medallists. These championships would have been a lot poorer without them.

So instead of these athletes going into Berlin focussed and ready to compete they are forced to contend with yet another upheaval initiated by their head coach.

Stephen Francis has had longstanding disputes with members of the Jamaica Amateur Athletic Association (JAAA) and those disputes go far beyond professional differences. That being said, whenever these disputes occur it makes the members of the JAAA look foolish trying to stand up to Francis knowing that his athletes give him significant leverage.

In this latest drama it required the intervention of officials of the IAAF to get the athletes to participate after the JAAA put its foot down, as it should have a long time ago – and requested of the meet organisers that the athletes’ names be removed from the list of participants.

Last year in Beijing it was a similar story.  And there was intervention there too.

It’s time the MVP athletes realise that their coach is doing them more harm than good. His actions are beginning to have a negative effect on his athletes in terms of their popularity and it will eventually begin to affect their earnings as well. This is after all what they do for a living.

In time – that is if nothing is done to sanction him – Francis will find himself with fewer and fewer world class athletes and consequently with none. Maybe then he will see the error of his ways. Maybe then he will understand what people mean when they say that doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result is defined as insanity.

By then there would be no leverage for him to use, by then it will be too late and he will find in himself a king without a kingdom.