As the Cayman Islands national men’s football team prepares to kick off its 2026 FIFA World Cup campaign next month, it will do so without top striker Leighton Thomas Jr. due to a disagreement over remuneration.
While making clear he does not hold ill will against the decision makers of the Cayman Islands Football Association, he told the Compass he wanted to clarify his side of the story as to why he is not a part of the national team.
It’s a situation dating back to a 2022 Compass interview, where Alfredo Whittaker, president of CIFA, noted that Thomas Jr had wanted unrealistic funding to play for the national team, saying “unfortunately Mr. Leighton Thomas was asking for the moon and part of the sun”.
But Thomas Jr., who hasn’t played for Cayman in five years, believes his demands were reasonable. While not giving specifics, he indicated that he was asking for more than $1,000 in appearance fees, along with contractual performance benefits but he claimed that his proposal was instead shut down without any negotiations.
“It comes down to me wanting a contract, so that I could have some security and reassurance,” Thomas Jr told the Compass. “If I leave England, I won’t be getting paid from my [job] and I won’t be getting paid from [my] football [club] and if I play and get hurt, who is going to be responsible for it?”
The 25-year-old is the only footballer from Cayman to play professionally in the National Southern Premier League, with Hungerford Town, which is five tiers below the English Premier League – the only Caymanian playing at a higher level in the UK is Molly Kehoe, who plays with the Cardiff City Bluebirds of the Welsh Adran Premier League.
During the CONCACAF Under-15 Championship, Thomas Jr. scored 11 goals in five games to win the golden boot – the first Caymanian to do so at that tournament. In addition, during his time at Paulton Rovers for the 2021-22 season in England he bagged 31 goals in 36 appearances.
Despite his experience, he has not been asked to play in the upcoming World Cup qualifiers and, while he wants to represent his homeland internationally, he said he has other responsibilities that can’t be ignored.
“Who is going to be responsible for my bills, my child, plus my dad is here [in Cayman] and he’s not well and I help him; so if I don’t work then I am done,” he said. “Yes, I want to play football for my country but I need to know that these things are covered, which is the main thing.”
The Compass reached out to Whittaker on whether the association is willing to compromise with Thomas Jr. on the situation, but the president has not shifted the views he offered in 2022.
“We’ve expressed the desire to have him represent the national team previously and he said yes, but he wanted this and that,” Whittaker said. “It is not fair for other players to get more than others. We’ve had no arguments or issues with Leighton but there will be no negotiation to meet his demands; 99.9% of footballers around the world would die for the opportunity to play for their country.”
Equal wages for amateurs and pros
While CIFA is not obligated to meet the requests of any player, they can choose to do so. According to FIFA, the sport’s world governing body, individual countries are allowed to decide how much to pay in appearance fees and how to divide up prize money.
When it comes to Cayman’s mother country – England – every player within their national team is understood to receive around £2,000 per match. However, the board may decide to pay them in the form of bonuses.
At the last World Cup qualifiers in which Cayman participated, CIFA stated in a release at the time, following a dispute over finances, that from January to June 2021, each national player received “about CI$5,500”, part of a total payout of $126,500.
These funds consisted of travel stipends of $100 per day (per player), training allowances of $30 for each player per session attended, and a bonus of $7,500 that was split equally, at about $326 for each of the 23 players for the draw against Bermuda.
Thomas Jr. said he believes youth players who are being called up to the senior level “to get experience” shouldn’t receive the same wages as a player competing professionally abroad who is more likely to get Cayman positive results.
“They want to pay us all the same, which is something I don’t agree with,” he said. “I went away, played so many games against professional players, gained a lot of experience. How can I be on the same wage as someone that doesn’t have that exposure, someone who is on the reserves that is 15 years old?
“If you think about it, no matter what job you do in the world, no one is on the same wage. The more work you put in and the more skilful you are, then you get paid more and that’s across the board. This could be motivation for players.”
Despite the strained relationship with CIFA, Thomas Jr. said he hopes to rejoin the national team and is optimistic he and the association will be able to come to an agreement on financial terms.
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