TTFF special adviser knocks Soca Warriors, Government.
By: Mark Pouchet (Express)
It was supposed to be a forum to congratulate the national under-17 footballers on their qualification for the 2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup in South Korea next month.
But FIFA vice-president and Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation special adviser Jack Warner used the platform at yesterday's gala function to vent his frustration and anger over other issues.
Warner, who returned to Trinidad from Canada where he was attending the FIFA U-20 World Cup, lambasted the Government, the footballers involved in the dispute over bonus payments generated by qualifying for the 2006 World Cup, and an unnamed local journalist, before he spent the minority of his time congratulating the junior Soca Warriors.
The Sepp Blatter Hall at the CONCACAF Centre of Excellence in Macoya, decorated lavishly by Robert Solomon, was the venue for Warner's latest outburst, where the CFU and CONCACAF president claimed he originally agreed with his lawyers not to speak about the World Cup players' bonus impasse. But he could not help it.
After MC Dennis McComie presented him, Warner said he had prepared to present figures and documents to support his side in the issue that led to 16 T&T players being black-balled by the TTFF for last month's CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Then Warner, who said he was angry and needed some time to vent, carefully chose his words when he revealed: "The TTFF owes not a single player any money for any match based on any contract signed by the players."
After going on about making a mistake of being "too generous", he then admitted that he did, by word of mouth after the famous 0-0 draw with Sweden in Trinidad and Tobago's opening match at the World Cup in Germany, agree and promise to increase the Warriors share of the TTFF's net proceeds from 30 to 50 per cent.
"I could have said I didn't say so, I stammer and I talk fast," he stated. "I could have said 'all yuh misunderstand me'."
Warner, who previously described the 16 national players-headed by goalkeeper and recently-installed interim president of the Football Players Association of Trinidad and Tobago (FPATT), Shaka Hislop- as "mercenaries consumed by greed", suggested that money coming into the TTFF's hands should now be used for long-term investment in football and not in players "who are over-aged and will never play for this country again".
He added that an unnamed local journalist and a foreign one were set in attempting to destabilise the TTFF and Warner himself.
With regard to the Government, represented yesterday by Minister of Sport Roger Boynes, Warner recalled he had been given a series of assurances since last July that the salaries of the national team's technical staff, which he claimed stood at $1 million per month, would be funded by the Government.
"Mr (Roger) Boynes told me when he came in that Government had approved the money Friday," he explained. "But don't worry, Wim (Rijsbergen), I'll pay you for June before I leave." Warner is scheduled to fly back to Canada tomorrow.
He then related that the TTFF had applied to host the 2011 Women's World Cup as part of Warner's deliberate effort to assist and develop women's football.
He claimed that ambition is being stalled because the TTFF have failed to secure "Government guarantees".
Finally, turning his attention to the advertised purpose of the function-the celebration of the Trinidad and Tobago under-17 squad's qualification for Korea 2007-Warner congratulated the team and implored the young players to allow "the qualification to mark the commencement of their careers and not the consummation of their careers".
Warner was given a token of appreciation by the mothers of the national U-17 players, before he made a presentation to former Malvern player and coach Robbie Greenidge of $3,000 a month and the use of one of CONCACAF's rental cars until he passes on.
Cas Brown, who was not present, was also awarded the same $3,000 per month stipend. After that, the T&T under-17 players were introduced to the audience. But the boys of the moment had already been upstaged by the man considered as being in control of Trinidad and Tobago's football.
U-17s qualification celebrated.
... Warner comments on current impasse.
By: Shaun Fuentes (TTFF).
Trinidad and Tobago’s qualification for the FIFA Under 17 World Championship in Korea next month was celebrated in lavish fashion at a reception hosted by the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation at the Dr Joao Havelange Centre of Excellence Sepp Blatter Hall on Sunday morning.
The 32 players, including the 20-man squad that got through the CONCACAF final round of qualification in May in Jamaica were all toasted along with members of the technical staff headed by head coach Anton Corneal and manager Christopher Gouveia.
Several leading officials and personalities on the local football scene as well as Honourable Minister of Sport Roger Boynes, Brian Lewis, secretary general of the T&T Olympic Committee, Victor Daniel, General Secretary of the Grenada Football Association, Zoran Vranes, head coach of St Vincent/Grenadines and T&T head coach Wim Rijsbergen were present at the gathering.
Warner, special adviser to the TTFF also used the forum to vent his feelings on the ongoing impasse between the TTFF and the majority of T&T’s 2006 World Cup squad.
But that aside, the event was hosted by the TTFF and coordinated by All Sports Promotions with the Under 17s in mind. And every member of the squad stood proudly before the audience when he was introduced and invited to take the stage.
A video highlighting the team led by Leston Paul was also on display at the event and will air on the local Football 07 program this month.
Warner said the young team presented a sense of hope for T&T.
“This is a team sport. You are playing for your team and your country and if you do that whenever the result… we shall be proud. Our aspiration is not so much of course is win the Under 17 Final but to show what a small country like T&T can produce. You are the future of sport, you are the beacon of hope for this country where of course in a sense sport and culture are the only two unifying forces in this country. You have a chance to take over where the senior players have left off. And when you leave here on August 5 bear in mind that you are now on the threshold of your career. Let this qualification mark the commencement of your football career, not its consummation. If you go there and perform as you can, then you would have serve us very proudly.”
On the topic of the “Soca Warriors” impasse, Warner added that he wanted the “public to know and for the public to judge” and that the time will come when he and the TTFF shall reveal with its figures and documents to support them. Lawyers advised him against using Sunday’s forum to do so but he promised to do it sometime in the future.
"The TTFF owes not a single player any money for any match based on any contract signed by the players.
"I could have said I didn't say so, I stammer and I talk fast," he stated. "I could have said 'all yuh misunderstand me'. Warner added saying that it was his first and last mistake referring to his verbal agreements to give the players 50 percent of the net proceeds following the team’s 0-0 draw with Sweden. “At the end of the day that is the issue. Not a single match, not a single contract. Everything has been honoured. There is no record of that (the 50 percent agreement). “I could have said I never said so.”
Warner mentioned that some of the players leading the fight were already somewhat too old to play for the country again but noted that none of them were neither Russell Latapy nor Dwight Yorke.
He added that the monies coming into the TTFF has to be used for investing for future national teams and development but not to give to players. He revealed that no country receives money from FIFA for qualifying for a FIFA youth tournament and the world governing body assists only with the airfare. He also applauded the Senior Team for its fighting display at the 2007 Gold Cup at which it did no better nor worse than previous national teams.
He said publicly it should be noted that Jamaican technical director Bora Milutinovic is receiving a salary is twice what T&T head coach Wim Rijsbergen and his assistant is receiving. And even after Jamaica suffered embarrassing results on a recent Asian tour, its Government is still supporting through payment of salaries. Yet the T&T Government has not followed up on its promise to pay the T&T technical staff. Boynes though informed Warner that the monies were approved last Friday. Warner assured Rijsbergen that he would pay his salaries for May and June.
The CONCACAF President also a presentation to former Malvern player and coach Robbie Greenidge of $3,000 a month and the use a rental car until he passes on. Greenidge recently suffered a stroke. Cas Brown was also awarded the same $3,000 per month payment.
Fighting for a cause.
By: Fazeer Mohammed (Express).[/size]
No, Jack, no!
What was the purpose of the latest tirade against the blacklisted players?
To warn the South Korea-bound under-17 squad that, in time, they could suffer the same fate if they ever felt they were too big for their boots and had the unmitigated gall to question the football administration?
By all accounts, Sunday's function at the Centre of Excellence was intended to be a tribute to the team who defied the odds by earning a place at next month's FIFA Under-17 World Championships, thanks to a battling victory over hosts and arch-rivals Jamaica in the decisive final game of the qualifying tournament in Kingston more than a month ago.
Since then, those history-making young men must have been walking on air as the enormity of their achievement sunk in. The dream of representing Trinidad and Tobago on the world stage has become a reality so early in their international careers that there may be the concern about them getting carried away with the achievement and believing that they are more than just servants of the Football Federation or, more specifically, its special adviser.
There's no chance of that now after the performance by Jack Warner.
Whatever praises and accolades offered to them would have been mere token gestures compared to the more fundamental message that the FIFA vice-president, CONCACAF boss and de facto supremo of the local game should never, ever be challenged unless the intention is to join the lengthening list of prominent individuals who have been either debarred from national duty or the domestic scene, or branded with that ever-popular tag of "persona non grata".
It is difficult to see how this collection of young players, so eagerly looking forward to the task ahead of them, would not have been intimidated more than encouraged by Warner's outburst. What is especially reprehensible is the manner in which this most influential football official can so flippantly belittle players who were hailed by the entire country, including Warner himself, as national heroes just a year ago.
As the man at the very heart of the alleged agreement for the sharing of World Cup profits between the TTFF and the players, he has every right to defend himself from what he may perceive to be baseless accusations. But surely, surely, making a whole heap of noise about the situation at an occasion that should have been about heartening encouragement and positive reinforcement of the under-17s is entirely inappropriate.
Keep in mind that some of those players dismissed as "mercenaries consumed by greed" or "the Soca Warriors of yesteryear" who "will never play for this country again" are probably heroes and exemplars in the eyes of the majority of the young squad. Will their opinions of Shaka Hislop, Stern John and others take an about-turn on the basis of Warner's cutting remarks, or will they now wonder if they may one day also suffer the same fate if ever they felt compelled to protest any form of injustice meted out to them by the game's administration?
Given the attention span of young people in general, it is unlikely that most of what was said at the Centre of Excellence on Sunday would have caused the under-17 players any sleepless nights since then. But, then again, you never know if one or two in the group might have taken it all in and realised that the sooner they can land decent contracts somewhere outside and get to hell out of this madhouse called T&T football, the better for their careers and long-term livelihoods, even if the country has to suffer for their absence.
Again, it all goes back to our obsession with personality cults in almost every sphere of public life. In creating these larger-than-life individuals on the basis of their achievements, wealth or influence, we have made them exempt from the rules that govern the rest of us. It is as if we firmly believe that one of the perks of such a status is being a law unto yourself.
This is the really sad part about it all. It is not so much about what Warner or any other prominent public figure says or does, but the ease with which the society tolerates, defends or forgives any indiscreet conduct purely on the basis of who they are. Even those who are troubled by this situation will take the position that it makes no sense to strike a discordant note because they will be shouted down by the rabid followers anyway.
There is no meaningful progress to be made in an environment governed by the personal whims and fancies of an anointed few, or as in football's case, one. Systems and structures, procedures and protocols are the pillars upon which any successful, progressive organisation is built. Yes, as with anything else there must be room for flexibility, but the governing principle should be that no man, or woman, is bigger than the organisation.
By taking a lag in the blacklisted players' tail at an occasion where there was no need to even go there, Warner has again demonstrated that his firebrand, confrontational modus operandi will not be tempered by considerations of tact and propriety.
As uncomfortable as it is to consider, the really unfortunate aspect, however, is that there is no concerted will to effect change, simply because we like it so, even if it means our under-17s are left wondering if they too will one day be blacklisted for standing up for a cause.