Update on Soca Warriors conflict.
By: Shaun Fuentes (TTFF).
Now that the Federation's International Calendar has been completed with our match against Austria, the Federation has now thought it prudent to make an official statement on the above referenced conflict which statement is now reported hereunder.The Federation, in the light of our benefactor, Jack Warner, officially advising the Ministry of Sport and us that October 31, 2006 is his last payment to our 2010 World Cup programme, which places the financial burden solely on him has now forced the Federation to meet in emergency session to review our plans for 2010.
The Soca Warriors Conflict
1. As you are no doubt aware, members of the Soca Warriors team set out to embarrass the TTFF on the afternoon of October 6, prior to the match against St Vincent and the Grenadines, by staging a news conference, during which the Federation was publicly accused of reneging on contract issues between TTFF and said team members.
2. This curious but deliberate action by the players came mere hours after a meeting on the same subject with the TTFF General Secretary, at which it was agreed the players and their representatives would return on October 9 to continue discussions and examine accounts relevant to their claims.
3. The T&TFF were therefore duly surprised and put through some degree of ignominy by that news conference, to which we had no access to present our view and at which leaders of the players' group refused to answer questions, leaving the media (and by extension, the general public) very confused.
4. We viewed this maneouvre as equally deliberate, leaving the public, with only the position of the aggrieved players as the substantial argument.
5. The media enthusiastically supported the team, parroting the players' threat that, if the matter remained unresolved, they would retire after the two imminent games vs St. Vincent & the Grenadines and Panama .
6. Essentially, the 13 players involved publicly accused the TTFF of reneging on a contractual obligation made during the 2006 World Cup build-up. Captain Dwight Yorke read a prepared statement, which said (inter-alia): "We, the players of the National Team that participated in the World Cup 2006, would like to announce our consideration to retire from international football immediately after our next two games."
7. Appearing in demonstration of solidarity with the position articulated by Captain Yorke were: Dennis Lawrence, David Atiba Charles, Avery John, Chris Birchall, Carlos Edwards, Colin Samuel, Stern John, Kenwyne Jones, Jason Scotland, Brent Sancho and Cornell Glen.
8. It is useful to note that Yorke's statement was, by his own admission, predicated upon the view that Government has reimbursed the TTFF for all our expenses which, he said: "makes the TTFF's stand even more confusing."
9. Caught unawares by that astonishing development, the TTFF released a statement seeking to clarify the issue, saying the question of queries arising from the contractual agreement had been discussed earlier that day and a way forward was unambiguously identified.
10. In advance of the players' news conference, the exercise of reviewing the contract had already been agreed for Monday, October 9. Quite naturally, we were appropriately embarrassed by the turn of events and particularly from players whose interests we have sought and defended on a continuing basis.
11. The TTFF further advised that if, by noon of the day following, the players did not revise their position and withdraw the expressed threats, we would advise football fans of a matrix of alternatives.
12. As events evolved, the game remained intact, although confusion in the minds of football fans probably resulted in reduced revenue at the gates and worse, possible long-term effects including jeopardizing future sponsorship deals, given the degree of (albeit baseless) suspicion inherent in the players' claims.
13. It is useful here to note that a report from our Accounts Department indicated that of approximately $13 million of sponsorship money raised during the campaign, a percentage was consciously diverted to mobilize the 2010 World Cup campaign.
14. In addition, several sponsors contributed to both the Germany campaign as well as South Africa 2010, so that income was treated in the following manner: Two-thirds for the Germany campaign and one-third for kicking off the South Africa campaign.
15. As you are no doubt equally aware, the players representatives did not turn up for the meeting on October 9 and much later in that day, through a call from Yorke, indicated they would come to meet at noon on the day following.
16. The representatives did not show up at that meeting either, leaving the General Secretariat waiting for nearly four hours, without so much as the courtesy of a telephone call to advise that they would not be coming.
17. Meanwhile, all sorts of spurious accounts of TTFF revenue from sponsorship began appearing in the local media, including an utterly outrageous claim that Adidas had given us US$71 million, a statement that undoubtedly put us in a bad light and on the losing side, if only in terms of public awareness.
18. In the face of continuing discourtesy to the TTFF, the General Secretary wrote to Dennis Lawrence, Stern John & Brent Sancho on the evening of October 10, complaining that their media exposure of the Friday previous had made us out as the villain but, after repeated requests to resolve the matter around the table, they were yet to show up or communicate a reason for their absence.
19. In the interest of finding a resolution, the TTFF again appealed to the players' representatives to meet at our offices at 43 Dundonald St , Port of Spain at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday October 11th, in the hope of bringing closure to this unsavoury development in our relationship with them.
20. The meeting eventually took place on October 12th, seven days after the players went public with a slew of accusations against the TTFF. At the meeting Stern John and Dennis Lawrence represented the players.
21. When initially asked to detail the players' grievance, the TTFF was advised by Mr. Lawrence that the players had agreed that they would maintain their position and adhere to the Contractual Agreement between them and the TTFF.
22. The TTFF then produced one of the signed contracts and asked Mr. Lawrence and Mr. John to identify the subject clause to which they were referring, since we were unclear as to which aspect was being referenced.
23. After Mr. Lawrence and Mr. John made several frantic telephone calls to their colleagues overseas, they determined that there was no reference (specific or otherwise) made regarding any compensation for any sponsor-related income generated by the TTFF.
24. Mr. Lawrence and Mr. John agreed on behalf of the players that this was indeed correct and there was a misinterpretation on their part.
25. The representatives having come to the realization that there is no clause substantiating the players' claim, the TTFF still advised of its willingness to seek a mutually acceptable compromise on the issue.
26. The players' representatives were exposed to the Income vs Expenses spreadsheet, dating back to the T&T vs USA match on Feb 9, 2005, including ticket sales; broadcast rights; receipts from sponsorships and even bar sales.
27. Further, the TTFF volunteered to repatriate the percentage sum appointed to mobilization for South Africa 2010 to the available purse.
28. Based on the revised calculations and the TTFF decision to waive investment in South Africa 2010 as previously intended, the result was a net profit of TT$ 950,403.49, of which 50 percent, the sum of TT$ 475,201.75, would be equally distributed between players and officials, with the other half accruing to the TTFF.
29. It was then agreed by both the Players' representatives and the TTFF that a revised spreadsheet would be submitted to the Players for them to review and advise us of their findings.
30. On Friday October 13th, the players' representatives were contacted and sent an aide memoire and asked to sign a copy of that document as acknowledgement of their acceptance of the revised arrangement. A copy of the spreadsheet was attached for ease of reference.
31. Up to October 19th, fully six days later, the TTFF had not been contacted by the players' representatives. A letter sent that morning (addressed to Dennis Lawrence, but advised to all the complainants) lamented the lack of response from their side.
32. In our letter of October 19th, the TTFF advised that, in the absence of communication by 4 pm that day, we would assume the proposal was acceptable, explaining that establishing the timeline became necessary, as we are in the process of planning our next scheduled game – against Austria on November 15th.
33. That same day, we received a terse letter, generated by Brent Sancho but copied to a number of his colleagues, saying the aggrieved players had to consult with "appropriately qualified advisers" and could not respond to "arbitrary deadlines."
34. Sancho's letter said they were meeting with their advisors on October 20th and we would hear from them early in the week following. The letter also illogically insisted that the TTFF "cannot imply anything from our lack of communication other than the fact that we are considering our position with our advisers."
35. The letter further said: "We don't consider your communication of the 13th October contained any 'proposal'; certainly not one capable of acceptance." This was after John and Lawrence had agreed on their behalf.
36. Again, and after due consultation with our legal advisors, the TTFF made another concession by agreeing to wait for a response, but insisted such a reply should be received by 4 pm on October 24, 2006.
37. It is against this backdrop of protracted vacillation and posturing on an issue the players generated, that we decided not to go public on this matter until after our match against Austria. In the interim, the T&TFF received a legal letter from the purported Agent of Kelvin Jack asking us for certain information and mentioning that the firm is representing the players. Our Legal Counsel responded that he had been retained to represent the T&TFF and asked the firm to state whom they were representing. To date no reply has been received from the firm.
38. In the meantime, the T&TFF has sent to its auditors, KPMG, for audit all the Income and Expenditure for the 2006 World Cup campaign beginning from 2004 until 2006. On completion of the audit, the figures will be made public and shall show the hundreds of thousands of US dollars paid to the players, the banks to which these payments had been transferred including banks in the Isle of Man and the USD bonuses which were given and this has nothing to do with the millions which the players received from the Government of Trinidad & Tobago. It was never our intention to do this but, with a presently discerning public, we are left with no alternative. We are also actively contemplating a swifter than originally envisaged consideration of incorporating the rising brood of players from our Professional League, Under-20 and even Under-17 squads to form the nucleus of our team for 2010.
39. In preparing for South Africa 2010, it must therefore be our parallel goal to rid ourselves of the anxieties with which we have been faced before each of the past three international friendly games and which, we may suspect will drag on and even see new issues surface, providing a continuum of distractions as we attempt to get on with the serious business of maintaining our integrity in the world of football.
We therefore so advise. (Nov 17,2006)
Richard Groden,
General Secretary
T&T Football Federation
