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Thu, Mar

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There is a saying that you know your true friends when you are down and this is the case with football in this country presently.

The poor athletes have been running the length and breath of football fields trying to bring glory to the country but no one has been assisting in terms of finance. The ministry of Sport and SPoRTT for all the criticisms they have come under, have been doing their very best to assist football in this country. However, they cannot go it alone and corporate T&T must come board.

Football’s image in this country took a serious battering under the last administration of Ollie Camps and up to now it is still suffering. I looked on in utter disgust to hear the Member of Parliament for Diego Martin North East, Colm Imbert asking the minister of Sport, Rupert Griffith, during the Standing Finance Committee session of Parliament, why was $286,000 spent on football when this country did not qualify for the World Cup.

It is my fervent hope that somebody educates the honourable member, when it comes to development of athletes and in this case footballers. Having said that I was taken by complete surprise when Lab Media Limited decided to come on board with a $3M sponsorship for all national football teams.

These goodly gentlemen did not wait like the rest of Corporate TT to jump on board, when the team is nearing qualification or when they are actually at the World Cup. They are coming on board now irregardless of the state of the game because they see it as their social corporate responsibility.

I tried to understand the thinking behind the move by Lab Medica and placed a call to the president of the group Richard Ramrekha. When I listened to the reasoning of this gentleman, I was left with great hope that there are still people in this country who wants good for T&T.

In addition to forking out the $3M the company would provide free health screening sessions for all the national footballers and would work closely with them to better their health and ultimately improve their performance. They have already started with this, as during the Republic Day holiday, they sent their crew to Palo Seco to screen the national senior women’s footballers, who are preparing for a Concacaf series with an eye on getting a World Cup spot.

Lab Media and their group have decided to come up with the My Card and nationals purchasing this discount card, would be assisting the national footballers because $20 will go into a fund for the national teams, when each card is purchased.  Ramrekha also said that his company is in it for the long haul and this is freshing indeed. I think that those who want to see good for our football, should support this company because they are willing to come forward and give back to T&T.

I am anxiously awaiting those corporate companies that will be taking out advertisements in the media congratulating teams that they did not help. I want to assure them that they would get the bonus of getting a mention in the Sportsview column, although they might not agree with what they read. I want to congratulate a young man by the name of Shaun Fuentes who went beyond the call of duty to nab this deal with Lab Medica.

Fuentes who started his career in journalism at the T&T Guardian moved on to the T&T Football Association (TTFA) (formerly T&T Football Federation) and is now the communications director. He has been working in the capacity it seems of marketing manager as well, as he has been making the rounds in trying to get sponsors to come on board and assist T&T’s football.

Fuentes approached former San Fernando Mayor Dr. Navi Muradali and asked for assistance and Dr Muradali and his associates at the Lab Medica Group decided to buy in. Ramrekha who is the president is a man who is extremely passionate and once he saw an opportunity to get on board and assist brand T&T, he was sold.

It is my understanding that the group is also looking to assist other sporting associations this country, as they look to raise the bar in terms of fitness and performance. The fact that footballers would now be screened early and sent for regular head to toe medical investigations, is huge because we lost two footballers in Akeem Adams and Kevon Carter because of heart ailments.

Lad Medica is also assisting the Central FC and recently when players were sent for tests two guys were picked up with questionable heart rates and they would now be taken for further tests and possible treatment, so that they may still enjoy a productive career and be safe healthwise.