FIFA oppose Soca Warriors' suit.
Blatter could intervene in bonus battle.
By: Lasana Liburd (Express).
FIFA vice-president and Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (T&TFF) Jack Warner was in Switzerland when the deadline passed to register the country's 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup squad but the 2006 World Cup bonus battle that divided players and administrators might have been at the forefront of his agenda.
Yesterday, Sepp Blatter, an open ally of Warner, was re-instated as FIFA president for a third term and immediately oversaw the amendment of a statute that could have immediate ramifications on a looming court case involving the CONCACAF president.
The FIFA Congress approved an amendment to article 62 of the statutes, which now obliges associations "to insert a clause in their statutes or regulations stipulating that disputes affecting the football family may not be taken to ordinary courts of law".
"Sport has to be able to manage itself," said Blatter. "We need to have the strength and the courage to accept that responsibility and to settle our own affairs."
The FIFA decision comes in the face of imminent legal action by 16 Trinidad and Tobago World Cup players who claimed that the T&TFF reneged on a bonus deal struck between the "Soca Warriors" and Warner, who acted as chairman of the LOC 2006-a company formed to handle financial matters arising from the national team's qualification.
The amendment is likely to prompt a barrage of telephone calls from the players' legal representative, although British sport lawyer Michael Townley did not accept that their case was in danger before it had properly begun.
Townley, who heads Athletes One Legal in London, said he still had to determine whether such an amendment would affect the present dispute and was unsure about the specifics of FIFA's proposal. He asked only for transparency from the world governing body while he reiterated his confidence in the Court for Arbitration in Sport (CAS), which is also based in Switzerland.
"It is ideal that this is settled in a sporting forum," said Townley, "so long as the proper process is put in place to solve this dispute in a transparent and vigorous manner.
"I have quite a bit of experience in the court for sport arbitration in Lausanne, which is a very transparent and robust sport dispute tribunal."
On April 28, 2007, Townley warned of legal action against the T&TFF within a two-week period and charged that the local governing body was either bluffing or had underestimated the strength of their case. Court action was delayed, though, while the players requested a meeting with the T&TFF regarding their non-selection for the Gold Cup.
"We refer to this in our industry as 'put up or shut up'," Townley said about the T&TFF's behaviour, two months ago. "The attitude of the Federation is that the players have a good case but they won't be organised enough or disciplined enough to see it through and they are hiding behind that.
"We asked specifically whether there was any arbitration clause and they never answered yes or no. We are left to assume that the only way of finding justice is through a court of law."
FIFA's announcement, yesterday, could force another delay by the Warriors' legal team as they ponder the implications. Time will tell whether the rules of the game were changed after kick off.
