Reggae Boy Ryan Johnson in a Kappa jersey. - file

Jamaica's Reggae Boyz will have to wait a few more months before donning kits from returning Italian sponsors Kappa as the release date for the new kits has been pushed back.

Earlier this year, the Jamaica Football Fede-ration announced that a new three-year deal had been signed with the Italian manufacturing giants worth somewhere in the region of US$2 million (J$172 million). The new gear was expected to be released sometime in April, but general secretary of the association Horace Reid confirmed that there has been a setback of sorts.

replica gear

Reid

"The new kit is expected to be out sometime in June, July as the original release date has been delayed by a few months," Reid told STAR Sports. The JFF official said the delay was partly due to the fact that the Italian company did not have a major distributor in the region. Kappa was on board with the national team for the last World Cup campaign as well signing a US$1.7 million two-year sponsorship contract in 2008, but the deal was not without its issues. The limited presence of the Italian company in the region, became a problem for many fans of the Boyz, both local and overseas, as leading up to the 2010 World Cup campaign, and even during, replica gear proved almost impossible to purchase, with not even the JFF having the fan kit available.

According to Reid, the issue of a regionally based outlet was an issue in finalising the deal with the Turin-based sports goods manufacturers, with negotiations going on for the better part of a year. However, that issue has now been rectified with the Italian company finding a distributor based in the United States.

"What had happened was that Kappa did not have a distributor in the region and that was a big reason this deal was held up for a little while," Reid said.

"That problem has now been rectified as the company now has a distributor in the region, one based in the US, so we should not have a problem in terms of replica gear being available."

The new Kappa gear could arrive after Jamaica's opening CONCACAF World Cup qualifying Group A match against Guatemala. The Reggae Boyz will play their first match on June 8 at the National Stadium before travelling to Antigua and Barbuda for their second match on June 12.

National coach Theodore Whitmore (right) and Reggae Boyz goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts in Kappa gear during last year's Gold Cup tournament in the United States. - file