T&TFF squander Warriors legacy.
By: Lasana Liburd (Express).
Lasana Liburd sees a quagmire ahead if the T&TFF do not meet with star players
FIFA vice-president and CONCACAF president Jack Warner was supposedly so content with the Trinidad and Tobago national football team's first round exit from the 2007 Gold Cup tournament that he wrote himself a congratulatory letter.
The names in the sent column read Oliver Camps and Richard Groden, Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (T&TFF) president and general secretary respectively, but there is no doubt as to the most important figure on this trinity. Warner was patting his own back.
His declared victory was not against competing nations but his own star players.
"I want to publicly commend you (Camps and Groden) and, by extension, your entire Executive Committee and Federation," wrote the T&TFF special adviser, "for the principled stand you guys have taken in resisting being blackmailed into doing what could never have been right for your country and/or your Federation by bending to the will of a mercenary few."
The Soca Warriors, for the record, had said farewell from a tournament that was easier to progress in than to be eliminated from. Eight of the 12 competing nations stayed in the United States to contest Confederation honours at the knock out phase.
The Warriors did not even come close to advancing from their group. Only Cuba did worse among the four departing teams and, even then, it took goal difference to separate the two Caribbean nations that ended with a point apiece.
Cuba lost key national players at the past two Gold Cup tournaments as team members defected in pursuit of happiness in the United States.
To hear interim Football Players Association of Trinidad and Tobago (FPATT), Shaka Hislop, tell it, the Warriors also face a battle to maintain their human rights after Warner voiced his displeasure that the players sought legal advice over a bonus dispute with the T&TFF after qualifying for the 2006 World Cup.
And it is this fight over World Cup money that consumes Warner most.
It is now a matter of public record the Warner family pocketed millions from Trinidad and Tobago's World Cup qualification in a manner that even FIFA was forced to voice disapproval by declaring its vice-president guilty of violating the FIFA Code of Ethics.
Yet, the same Warner sneers at the Warriors, who were elevated to the rank of national heroes for their World Cup exploits, for having the temerity to insist that the T&TFF fulfil a financial promise that Warner made himself.
Last August, the World Cup players were given the nation's second highest award of Chaconia Medal (Gold) for their stellar performances on the global stage and the subsequent boost in national morale. Less than a year later, the T&TFF blacklisted 16 members of the nation's most successful football team and the Warriors can barely distinguish themselves from the likes of Cuba.
For the T&TFF's managerial skill in achieving this dubious mark, Warner believes that congratulations are in order.
The cull might not have ended there either. Warner spoke in ominous terms about present national coach Wim Rijsbergen, who served as assistant to his Dutch compatriot Leo Beenhakker at the 2006 World Cup, for daring to request his best players.
"I have made the point repeatedly that the head coach and his assistant have been hired to coach the national team of Trinidad and Tobago," stated Warner, "and not the Soca Warriors of yesteryear "
Rijsbergen, Warner told the Jamaica Gleaner, will be re-evaluated soon.
Seven years ago, local coach Bertille St Clair led the national team to the Gold Cup semi-final round for the first team in the nation's history. Warner sacked him regardless before the team had even boarded the return flight to Trinidad.
Politics and not performance has always been crucial to Warner's decision-making.
He did not like St Clair's refusal to be dictated to on coaching matters. And he does not like anyone peering into his accounting books.
The height of vanity once seemed to be set by sportsmen who referred to themselves in the third person. Warner has raised the bar. It now belongs to administrators who write themselves congratulatory notes and then have them published.
The arrogance of the T&TFF and other local sporting bodies is nothing new but the manner in which Warner and his clique handle the enhanced reputation and financial wealth gained by the Warriors' on-field exploits is shocking for its irresponsibility.
Adidas, Ebay, Carib and the National Lotteries Control Board (NLCB) are among sponsors who invested millions in the Warriors' future. Millions of fans devoted emotional and financial support as they bought football tickets and merchandise and set work schedules around the team's calendar.
Yet, the T&TFF continue to make pronouncements without consideration for anyone but themselves.
The blacklisted players stated that they only require proof of the T&TFF accounts before accepting the World Cup bonuses on offer. There have been enough inquiries about Warner's professional ethics over the past 18 months to raise doubts in even the most naive patriot.
And yet he and, by extension, the T&TFF refuse to budge.
Last June, the Warriors brought pride to themselves, their country and the region. The Caribbean is routinely mocked abroad for being disorganised, short-sighted and lacking commitment and passion.
The Warriors resolve and determination on the German fields showed a fresh perspective as they outdid Sweden for desire-despite playing nearly half the match with a man short-matched England for organisation and eclipsed Paraguay for passion in every aspect but the final score line.
The results in Trinidad and Tobago's historic maiden appearance at a World Cup finals were a goalless tie against Sweden, a controversial 2-0 loss to England-whose first goal should have been disallowed for a foul-and a 2-0 defeat to Paraguay.
It was a fair return for the smallest nation ever to participate in the tournament and Trinidad and Tobago buzzed with anticipation of future football success.
Warner, the self-declared "Godfather" of the regional game, is looking more like an obstacle than an accomplice to this lofty target. His pronouncements on his financial stake in the team, which is never properly supported in accounting terms, is wearing thin, particularly as the T&TFF are not short of sponsors.
Forget the tiff about the 2006 World Cup bonuses. The legacy of the Soca Warriors is at stake.
For God's sake, settle it.
