Contrary to reports in the local media, the governing body of world football, FIFA, are yet to be petitioned by athletes1, the firm of solicitors acting on behalf of the footballers who represented Trinidad and Tobago at this year’s FIFA World Cup Finals. Selected by a committee of players acting on behalf of the group of players that represented the country at ‘the big dance’, athletes1 is aiming to recover finances promised to the players prior to their participation in the World Cup Finals in June.
The public first had a whiff of trouble on the horizon in a press conference held in Trinidad on the eve of the recent international against Caribbean neighbors St. Vincent on October 7th. Captain Dwight Yorke, reading a prepared statement, alerted the public of unpaid sums agreed to between the players and the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (TTFF). In a rare move, the TTFF released a statement signed by General Secretary Richard Groden, and not from the offices of its Special Advisor Mr. Jack Warner, a FIFA Vice President and CONCACAF President, who has been at the forefront of any previous public discussions of the team’s finances.
In speaking to Warrior Nation Media today, the players’ attorney, Sam Hollis of athletes1 indicated that a committee of players had “a verbal agreement [made] with Mr. Warner and the General Secretary, Mr. Richard Groden. And that agreement was that the player pool, that is, the entire World Cup squad, would receive 50% of the participation allowance made to the Federation by FIFA in respect to the participation of the team in the FIFA World Cup Finals, they were to receive 50% of the profit arising from warm up matches that were arranged as part of the team’s preparation for the World Cup Finals, and 50% of the commercial revenue, including in particular sponsorship, generated by the Federation as a consequence of the team’s participation in the World Cup Finals. Now, the Federation has purported to have paid some money but not all, and the accounts which they have provided…are not true and fair accounts. They don’t represent a true and accurate position of, for example, the sponsorship incomes. And all the players are asking for is for a true and fair account and to be paid what is contractually due and owing to them. The players, in their press release you would have seen, indicated that they are not on strike, they absolutely want to play for Trinidad and Tobago, and they have made themselves available for the next international and for future internationals. But they are asking in return that the Federation deal with their lawyers, us, in order to get this matter remedied.”
Mr. Hollis further indicated that his firm would be writing the TTFF either today (October 24, 2006) or tomorrow, and then “shall take the process from there”. WN Media further enquired as to why this step of corresponding with the TTFF was not taken before issuing their press release which caused ripples in football circles, in part due to the sensational article headlines of the local newspapers, and we were advised by Mr. Hollis that “the reason we have issued a press release is because the Federation has chosen to release certain information on the Soca Warriors website and elsewhere in the press, a lot of which is very prejudicial to the players, and portrays them in a very bad light, particularly referring to them as ‘delinquent’. The players are upset, angry and offended and have chosen to make their position clear through their attorneys, which is that they are prepared to play, they are not on strike, that they have legitimate grounds and legitimate complaints, and that they want those dealt with properly and fairly and in an expeditious manner through their lawyers”.
With the Government of Trinidad and Tobago providing some $45 million Trinidad and Tobago dollars to the Soca Warriors team in the build up to the World Cup Finals, Mr. Hollis indicated to WN Media that his firm “will be copying our correspondence to the Sports Minister, as my understanding is that the government had made a significant investment to the Federation towards the team’s preparation and participation in the World Cup. They definitely will have an interest in this matter and we’ll copy our correspondence to them in this matter”.
With members of the World Cup team being occupied by Carling Cup playoffs and other professional club duties, WN Media has been unable to obtain comment from any players at the time of this article, or from TTFF sources who were unavailable on the local Eid-ul-Fitr holiday. However, in an exclusive interview with WN Media conducted yesterday (October 23, 2006), that will appear in its entirety in the forthcoming “Warrior Nation” Quarterly, former national senior team captain and member of the 2006 World Cup football team, defender Marvin Andrews indicated that he had no knowledge beforehand of the action decided upon and revealed by captain Dwight Yorke and other teammates prior to the St. Vincent friendly international.
Excerpt from forthcoming “Warrior Nation” article; expected distribution date: December 2006.
Warrior Nation Media [WN]: The recent impasse between the TTFF and the players. Did you have any part to play in it?
Marvin Andrews [MA]: I did not go back for the last games so I did not know what happened. But my mate Dennis Lawrence told me a little bit about it. He told me that there was an encounter with the TTFF, and he’ll be keeping me informed about it.
WN: Do you have any interest in how the talks conclude? Or whether an agreement is reached?
MA: I don’t know really what the guys are doing yet, we have not come to a definite decision as to anything yet, so we just have to wait and see.
WN: Ok. So you had no input before the decision was taken?
MA: No, no, no, no, no. I was not at the last two games, I did not know what was happening.
WN: From a fan’s perspective, we were led to believe that it was a decision taken by all the players on the World Cup squad.
MA: As I said, I did not know what was happening. I just heard people talking different things. I had no idea what was taking place, what the captain said, what other people said. Dennis Lawrence filled me in on what was going on with the TTFF and indicated that they were still chatting and still in negotiations. So no decision as far as players not playing has been made as yet.
Stay tuned to the Warrior Nation website for the latest developments in this matter.