After a poor 17th-place finish at the 2025 World Indoor Athletics Championships, fans were hoping for a change from Jamaica. That is especially after they finished with just four medals (two silver and two bronze) at the event. They needed a change, and with 400m star Nickisha Pryce and starlet Shanoya Douglas leading a 32-member team, it could have happened. But the situation has now changed as six athletes have withdrawn, leading critics to criticize the JAAA yet again.

Many believe that it points to negligence and a lack of communication on both sides, especially given the timeline. An X user, Owen (@_OwenM_), was particularly frustrated with the JAAA and called them out for their lack of communication and more.

“What I find frustrating about Jamaica’s World Indoor team announcement is that, just a couple of hours later, the team was updated with several withdrawals,” Owen wrote on X.

“You can’t tell me that they all happened to withdraw at the same time, two weeks before the championships and only hours after the original announcement. This supports the point I made previously: communication between the federation and its athletes is nonexistent.”

The JAAA made the announcement and the subsequent change to the roster hours after the original roster dropped. The second release from the federation showed that Pryce, Douglas, Shana Kaye Anderson, and Leah Anderson had all withdrawn. That meant that Jamaica had also withdrawn its participation from the women’s 4x400m relay. That hasn’t gone down well with fans and critics.

Others called out the fact that selectors picked teenage starlet Shanoya Douglas despite her participation in other tournaments at the same time. The 18-year-old just completed the Carifta Trials and is set to participate at the ISSA GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Athletics Championships.

That takes place two days after the World Indoors, with several fans questioning why selectors even picked her for the roster. The women’s section isn’t the only one that has faced withdrawals. On the men’s side, both Rivaldo Marshall (800m) and Reheem Hayles (400m) have also withdrawn.

As Owen added, “I also believe that, moving forward, the JAAA should establish a more formal selection process. For example, a compulsory trials event in which the top two athletes who meet the standard are selected. This would make the selection process much clearer and reduce the discretion exercised by the selectors.”

Yet despite that, the JAAA were able to name a competitive squad with the 28 members, including reserves, set to represent Jamaica at the 2026 World Indoor Athletics Championships. However, they’ll have no one representing them in the 400m for women and the men’s high jump as well. Not only that, but only one male athlete will participate in the 400m and 800m after Hayles and Marshall’s withdrawal.

JAAA has come under criticism multiple times in the past

This is not the first time the JAAA has come under criticism for negligence and more. In fact, it has happened several times in the past with former athletes vocal about it. That includes Asafa Powell, who has called out the JAAA multiple times for several reasons ranging from mismanagement to poor infrastructure. Not only that, on his YouTube channel, he made a startling admission.

“So whenever I post videos or anything of the boys doing sports or track, people are always like, ‘Yo, the future looks good’ or ‘Future stars,’” Powell said on his YouTube channel. “But honestly, guys, if the support system doesn’t change, my kids are not running for Jamaica. Not running for Jamaica. Sorry to say that — but it’s just facts.”

He wasn’t the first, as going further back, Elaine Thompson-Herah also talked about how she has faced a tough time financially because of the lack of support. And more recently, field athlete Danniel Thomas-Dodd touched upon the lack of any kind of support from the federation in 2024. In the aftermath of that, five Jamaican field athletes switched allegiance to Turkey. That includes Olympic medalists Rajindra Campbell and Roje Stona, as well as Wayne Pinnock and Jaydon Hibbert.

While that has sparked serious discourse about the future of the sport, it has called into question the future of Jamaican athletes.